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JUL^C,<^ 



GRA/NDFATHER'S TALES 



OF 



f^ORTH CAROLINA HISTORY 



BY 
RICHARD BEMDURT CREECT 



Look abroad throughout the land and see North Carolina's sons contending 
manfully for the Dalm of honor and distinction. —Gaxton. 



/ 



RALEIGH 
Howards & BROf<;nTON, I'rinters 

I 9 O I 



(l^\' 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

AUti 18 1904 

Oooyrleht Entry 

CLASS a, XXe. No. 

COPY b' 



TO THE 

YOUTH OF NORTH CAROLINA 

I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME, WITH THE EARNEST HOPE 

THAT THEV WILL LEARN FROM ITS PAGES 

SOME LESSONS OF PATRIOTISM, 

AND WILL BE 

STRENGTHENED IN THEIR LOVE FOR 

THEIR NATIVE STATE 

BY THESE MEMORIALS OF THE PAST THAT I HAVE SOUGHT 

TO PERPETUATE FOR THEIR BENEFIT. 

THE ACTHOR. 



Copyrighted 1901, by 
R. B Cref.cy. 



^9/ 



PREFACE. 

Gka.xdfather'.s Tales of North Carolina History 
was an inspiration of State love, and was at first- intended 
for tlie i)rivate instruction of my children and grandchil- 
dren. Its preparation was eonnnenced ten years ago, as 
a lal)or of love, in the leisure time taken from my regular 
editorial ^vork. As the work progressed we occasionally 
pul)lished specimen chapters of the work in order to ascer- 
tain wliother it met the public approval. It seemed to 
'' do .s(j, and some of our friends expressed their approval in 
gratifying terms of commendation. 

Then we thought it might be a useful offering to the 
public and to our schools and perhaps give a new stimulus 
to the State love of the rising generation and cause them to 
know more of their illustrious progenitors, and to emulate 
their virtues and their patriotic deeds. 

One boulder was in our pathway. It costs labor to pre- 
pare a book for publication. But avo were raised to hard 
work and ^vere never afraid of it. But, in addition (o 
that, tliei-e's much expense in money in getting a book be- 
fore the public, and we never had the gift of money-get- 
ting and we were largely gifted with the talent for getting 
rid of it, which talent, we honestly confess, we have never 
"liid in a napkin," but cultivated assiduously by constant 
practice — that is to say, when w(^ had it to get rid of. 
However, we have never been an Elijah that the ravens 
had to feed. So we looked around to accomplish by our 
wits what our purse refused to do. 



IV PREFACE. 

Judge Clark is tlic liead of the '"Literary and Ilistorieul 
Association of Xm-tli Carolina," a man of literary in- 
stincts, and beinii a younu- man himself, we thought he 
would naturally he liel])fnl to a young man who was knock- 
ing for admission into the gnild <>f letters, lie responded 
kindly and gracinnsly, anil nndri' liis dirccl ion we sent In 
to the nexl nuH'ting of ilic Assm-iation spiH-iniens of our 
work, re ])resenting its leading fcatni'es — historical, bio- 
graphicah legenihi ry and poetical — to l)e examined by the 
Association. 'Ilicy were referred to a committee of which 
Professor lliJl, of tlic A. and ]\r. C\)llege, was chairmar. 
The committee reported favoralily au<l "commended and 
reconiinendcd it" to the public and the schools. Wo 
breathed (-asicn- an<l the skies wcu'e a m(U"e cerulean aspect. 

We had askeil oui- friend, .1 ndge Id. G. Connor, a mem- 
ber of the J louse of IJeju'esentatives of the General Assem- 
bly of North Caridiua, that in case the k. and H. Asso- 
ciation gave '■(ii'andfatliei'\s 'I'ales"" a favoralile endors(>- 
ment, avouM he inlro(luce a resolution in the ]>egislaturG 
])le<1ging tlie State to take a certain uunil>ei' of copies o^ 
the work Avheii pnhlished and to endorse it for use in th-3 
])nhlic schools oi' North ('ai'cdina, and we, at tlic same 
time. requ(st(Ml Trof(\ssor Hill to hand over the manu- 
scripts to dndge ('onuoi', after he liail tinished witli them, 
which he did. 

On the last da\- id' the regular session of the Legislature 
Judge Connor introduced a resolution in the House, en- 
dorsing the book, recomiueuding its use in the schools of 
the State and ai»pi-opriatin<: two hnndred dollars ($200) 
to aid in its puhlication, and the resoliuion was unani- 
mously- and ininiediattdy passed, hoih parlio uniting in 



PRPZFACE. V 

its passage. Then we breathed easier, deeper, longe:-, 
broader, and every inspiration was a joy. 

Thanking- my friends for the kind words of enconrage- 
ment and the assistance tbey have given me in the prepa- 
ration of this work, and trusting that it may meet the 
approval of ray countrymen, I bid them an affectionate 
adieu. 

li. B. Creecv. 
Elizabeth City, N. C. Oct. 12. litOl. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Ode 1 

Sir Walter Raleigh 6 

The Lost Colony is 

Beginning of a Nation _ . 1 '2 

Legend of the W hite Doe 15 

Legend of Batz's Grave .. 19 

An Unsettled Question 22 

George Durant and King Kilcokannan 24 

The Story of William Drummond 27 

Our Parliamentary (Jenesis ;51 

Culpepper's Rebellion 33 

The Edenton Tea Party 35 ^ 

John Harvey 10 

The Resolutions of St Paul's Vestry 43 

The Regulators 45 

The Tusrarora Mas.sacre 47 

Tiie Huguenot Blood in North Carolina 49 

The Scotch-Irish Element in our History 52 

Tom Browns Dog Tilden 54 

Teach and Potter, Carolina's Outlaws 57 

Old-time Hazing at the University 61 

The Old-time Quaker - H4 

Thomas Hart Benton 67 

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 69 

The Stanij) Party in Wilmington 72 

Jimmy Sutton and Admiral Cockburn 77 

Battle of Guilford Court House 79 

John Stanly 82 

Gaston at the University .. . - 84 

The Last of the Romans.. --- 88 

Betsy Dowdy's Ride - - - 9o 

What I Know About " Shocco " Jones 96 

Gov John M. Morehead 101 

An Evening with Gaston... 104 

Interesting North Carolina History 114 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll 

PAGE. 

Pasquotank River - . 1 16 

Gaston in the Convention of 1835 . . . 119 

Gavin Hogg . - - 133 

James Allen 1 25 

Ethnology 127 

The Convention of 1835 - 130 

Joseph B Skinner 132 

Judge R R. Heath 136 

Gen. William Gregory 138 

Anecdotes of Mr. Badger 1 42 

The Pen and the Sword 146 

The Giants of 1840 148 

The Death of William Ga'^ton 152 

Mammy Ellen . 154 

Henry W. Miller 157 

Judge Thomas Ruffin .. .. . 161 

A Monster Snake 1 63 

Battle of Moore"s Creek Bridge 1 66 

The Banker Pony Ifii) 

Dare County . 1 72 

Nags Head.. .. 174 

Governor Swain . 17N 

Iredell, Shepard. Rayner. Smith. Shaw 182 

W. W. Cherry 186 

The Ministers of God U)() 

Union League and Ku-Klux Klan 194 

Western Scenery 197 

Gen. J . Johnston Pettigrew 200 

Recollections of Thomas S. Ashe 208 

University Reminiscences 211 

Death of Dr Elislia Mitchell 213 

Among the Carolina Writers 218 

The Bombardment 222 

Gov. William A Graiiam ,. . 225 

The Mountain Grandeur of Western Carolina... 228 

Flora McDonald 030 

The Black Flag 234 

Remnants of Lo.. . . .. .... 237 

A Dread Time 239 

The King of Birds and the Bravest of Beasts 242 



Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

^ PAGE. 

Gen. James Martin _ 244 

Charles R. Kinney. - 246 

Mrs. Rachael Caldwell 2ry2 

He Loved Everything in the State 2.55 

The Bureau Rule in 186G... 260 

The Capture of the Maple Leaf 264 

Humors of the Maple Leaf 266 

William S Ashe 268 

The Charge at Gettysburg . . 271 

Mrs. Willie Jones 273 

Raleigh 277 

Among Currituck Ducks and Duckers 283 

The Battle of Sawyer's Lane 286 

Col. William L. Saunders 289 

Winston-Salem 291 

The Invasion of the Carpet-bagger 295 

James C. Dobbin 297 

The New Century. 300 



GRANDFATHER'S TaLES, 



CAROLINA, THE MOTHER OF THE STATES. 

(AN IRREGULAR HISTORICAL ODE ) 

At the gateway of our history, 

Stands one whose fame is ours, 

A gallant man and noble, our father and our son ; 

''A man to note right well, as one 

Who shot his arrows straightway at the sun. 

His was all the Norman's polish 

And sobriety of grace, 

All the Goth's majestic figure, 

All the Roman's noble face, 

And he stood the tall exemplar 

Of a grand, historic race." 

His fame is ours. 

This foster-child of fame. 

Who made his Queen and country 

His brightest, noblest aim. 

Who dare challenge our heritage 

Of Walter Raleigh's name ! 

His fame is ours. 

As he rides with knightly bearing 

Down the corridors of time 

We bow in homage to his name 

And claim him as our own. 

We weep at his misfortunes, 

We rejoice at his renown, 

And at his final ghastly doom. 

We place our green forget-me-not 

In sorrow on his tomb. 

As I look back through the vista 

Of three hundred years ago, 



grandfather's tales. 

!My heart is swelled with varying tides — 
Alternate joy and woe — 

I pause in thought and sadness at those immortal men 
Who perished at Koanoke ; hut how, or where, or 

when, 
Will ne'er be known while time endures to any mortal 

men, 
'Till that great day when all shall see the secrets of 

the past. 
But this sad thought comes to cheer us, 
In this far-distant time — 
If round the brow of any land 
We twine the cypress leaf. 
It is lovely in its sadness 
With its coronet of grief. 
So, cheer up, Carolinians ! 
The seed, watered by your tears. 
Has grown to mighty greatness 
In all the coming years. 
But as I search again our ample store 
Of vast and misty legendary lore, 
And view its scenes and sights with pleasure rife, 
I find the old kaleidoscope of life. 
The thorns and rosebuds nestling side by side, 
The bane and antidote of life allied ; 
As, of ttime at the fall of some sad tear, 
There stands a smile to comfort and to cheer. 
And so the fountain of our grand old State 
Was not all bitter Avaters, 
At that time of ancient date. 
The purple grape, the perfume-laden air. 
The weird music from the mockbird's note. 
The willet's whistle and the gulFs wild scream 
Wra])pcd all their senses in a soothing dream 
When first they anchored in old Occam's stream. 
After God, theFather, 
Came their country and its Queen ; 
Then the pageant of possession. 



CAROLINA, THE MOTHER OF THE STATES. 3 

A grand and gorgeous scene. 

The shout, the drum, the cannon's roar 

Resound from shore to shore, 

And witli the loud acclaim 

Was mingled oft the virgin Queen and great Sir 

Walter's name. 
They called the land Virginia, 
Through its limitless domain, 
From sea to sea, from jS^orth to South, 
From mountain top to plain. 
Thev builded, the.y planted, 
They reared a sightly town ; 
They named it after Raleigh, 
That man of high renown. 
They built a fort, they worshipped, 
They raised altars to our God. 
All this, and more, was done 
On Carolina's sod. 

By the law of cause and sequence. 

By the ordering of the Fates, 

C%irolina was the first-born 

And the mother of the States. 

Virginia was her first name. 

Her baptismal name at l)irtli. 

But at her confirmation 

And renewal of her vow, 

Carolina, Carolina, became her name as now. 

By the fiat of Omnipotence, 
]S^o word or action dies, 
But, borne up by angels 
To the chancery of the skies, 
The recording angel. 
In his justice-seat on high. 
Records it and files it, 
And with a smile or sigh, 
'Till that creat dav and dread 



grandfather's tales. 

When earth and sea deliver np 
Their living and their dead. 

ISTo word or action dies, 

'Tis filed away in heaven, 

Perennial on earth, 

And goes on reproducing, 

From the moment of its birth. 

The acorn which was j^lanted 

And produced Columbia's oak. 

Was the acorn that was planted 

On the island of Roanoke. 

That oak, now grown to giant height, 

Which shadows all our land, 

Was from tlie acorn planted 

By Sir Walter Raleigh's hand. 

That oak that's now a giant. 

And of all men known and spoken, 

Was planted first and nourished. 

On the island of Wokoken. 

Jamestown was its first fruit, 

And John Smith's fame and glory 

Was but the early sequel 

Of Roanoke's saddened story. 

And pretty Pocahontas, 

Witli her romance all aglow. 

Is but the reproduction 

Of kind old Manteo. 

But why drop the name Virginia 
And give it to another ? 
It was the sweet baptismal name 
Of our dear old mother ; 
Her's by right of first discovery, 
Her's by the loud acclaim, 
Her's by the primal title. 
When tliat battle flag unfurled 
Proclaimed the land Virginia, 



CAROLINA, THE MOTHER OF THE STATES. 

And challenged all the world 
To dispute it, face to face, 
As the rightful, just possession 
Of the Anglo-Saxon race. 

Why drop the name Virginia 

And tal<:e another name ? 

'Tis the same old tender tale. 

The old maternal love, 

The same, 

That weeps when others smile, 

And pours out tears like water 

At tJie happy bridal 

Of her first-born lovely daughter. 

It was in part her bridal dowry 

She gave young Virginia with, 

When with heart and hand united. 

She married Captain Smith. 

Virginia grew to greatness, 

She bore her mother's name , 

Who, true to all her children, 

Speaks no word of blame ; 

But sometimes with maternal pride 

She whispers, soft and tame, 

Virginia has no fault. 

If fault it be. 

But avarice of fame. 

But avarice, my daughter, 

Becomes a noxious weed 

When you feed on other's laurels 

In your avaricious greed. 

So lift up your heads, my countrymen. 
And with uncovered brow, 
Before the great Eternal One, 
Make tliis your sacred vow, 

"Carolina, Carolina, heaven's blessings attend her ! 
While wo live wo will clicrish, protect and defend 
her." 



GRANDFATHER S TALES. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

At the gateway of our history stands Walter Raleigh's name, 
A gem of purest lustre in our coronet of fame 

If you were asked the question, which one of the Uni- 
ted States you loved best, you would say North Carolina. 
You would say so because it is the home of your parents, 
and of your forefathers since it was first settled, and be- 
cause their graves are here. 

North Carolina is sometimes called the ''Old North 
State," because it was the first settled of the Carolinas, 
and when a part of it was taken off for convenience, that 
part was called South Carolina, and the old part was 
called North Carolina, or the ''Old North State." 

During the late unhappy war between the States it was 
sometimes called the ''Tar-heel State," because tar was 
made in the State, and because in battle the soldiers of 
North Carolina stuck to their bloodv work as if they had 
tar on their heels, and when General Lee said, "God bless 
the Tar-heel boys," they took the name. 

You all know something about the State; but I know 
you would like to know more about it, and I will try to 
let you know more, if you will keep still and listen to the 
tales I will tell you about it. 

The first public man whose name is connected with 
North Carolina history is Sir Walter Raleigh. He was 
an English nobleman, and hi-i life is full of interest. He 
lived about three hundred years ago, in the most famous 
period of English history, and he was the foremost man 
of his time. As a writer, he was the companion of Shake- 
speare. As a soldier, he was the companion of Howard. 
As a statesman, he was the companion of Bacon. As an 
adviser, he was the nearest to Queen Elizabeth's distin- 
guished company. 

Do you know what gave Raleigh his start in the world 
when he was a young man ? It was simply a little piece 
of politeness. 

He was passing down a street in London dressed in a 




SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 7 

stylish scarlet cloak. The Queen, with her attendants, 
was walking down the same street, and when near Raleigh 
she stopped at a niuddj^ place in her way. Raleigh ran up, 
took off his scarlet cloak and threw it over the mud for 
the Queen to walk on. 

This act of politeness made him a great favorite with 
the Queen, and she bestowed many favors upon him. 
Among other favors, she gave him the right to make dis- 
coveries in America, and gave him the lands which he 
might discover which were not owned by Christian people. 

Raleigh sent out persons to explore the country. The 
land they first discovered was Roanoke Island, and they 
examined the country on the waters of Albemarle and 
Pamplico Sounds. 

The world is full of changes for the better and for the 
worse, and after Queen Elizabeth's death the good for- 
tune of Raleigh changed for the worse. 

James I, King of England, succeeded Elizabeth. He 
was weak-minded, credulous, and easily influenced. The 
flatterers that were around him did not like Raleigh be- 
cause he had been the favorite of the late Queen, and they 
determined that he shoidd not be the favorite of King 
James. 

They brought accusations against Raleigh. They made 
the King believe that he was not faithful to his King and 
country. Raleigh had been engaged in war with Spain, 
and they made the King believe that he loved Spain more 
than England, and that he had betrayed his country. 

King James believed these charges, and Sir Walter 
Raleigh was arrested, im]irisoned for twelve years, tried for 
treason and condemned to be beheaded, which was done in 
the year 1618. The judge Avas a corrupt tool of the 
King, and used his office against Raleigh. 

He died as he lived, a brave, faithful, Cliristian man, 
and his memory is dear to ]^orth Caroliim and to the En<r- 
lish people. 



grandfather's tales. 



THE LOST COLONY. 



Darkness there and nothing more 

Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. 

Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore. 

— Pve's Raven. 

Sir Walter Raleigh laid out $200,000 to make a 
settlement on Roanoke Island. He sent out four separate 
expeditions. All came to the same island, and all failed 
to make a permanent settlement. 

He first sent out Captain Philip Amadas and ('antain 
Arthur Barlowe in two vessels. They landed at Ballast 
Point on Roanoke Island, remained some days, and while 
here examined Albemarle and Pamplico Sounds, and 
Roanoke, Chowan and Scuppernong rivers. They re- 
turned to England and gave Sir Walter Raleigh and the 
Queen of England a very favorable account of the country 
they had discovered. 

They carried back witli them on their '•etin'n somo pro- 
ducts of the country and two Indians, one named Manteo 
and the other Wanchese. 

That was in the year 1584, and was the first time that 
any white man of the Anglo-Saxon race, to which race 
you belong, ever put his foot on America. 

He soon sent over another expedition of some ships 
loaded with settlers. 

They reached Roanoke Island, and soon began to build 
and make preparation for a permanent settlement. They 
called their place of building the City of Raleigh, and the 
remains of it are seen at this dav. 

An old fort is still plainly to be seen on the lands of 
Walter Dough. It was probably built to afford a defence 
to the settlers against the attacks of hostile Indians. 

They soon got into trouble with the Indians, and all 
exce]it fifteen men returned home to England. 

Raleigh had set his heart upon establishing a colony at 
Roanoke Island. After awhile he sent out another col- 
onv of one hundred and fifty men. women and children. 



THE LOST COLONY. 9 

They were provided with farming utensils, stock, provis- 
ions and vegetable seeds, and Raleigh thought he would 
now certainly succeed. 

This colony was under the lead of (rovernor White. He 
had with him everything that was necessary for a complete 
society. He was accompanied hj men of learning, men 
of skill, men of science, and a pious clergyman of the 
English Church. A Christian community to whom the 
ordinances of our holy religion were administered. 

When the colony of Governor White reached Roanoke 
Island, iheir first thought was of tlie fifteen men that the 
last colony had left there. 

All that they could find of them were the bleaching bones 
of a white man scattered on the ground. The fort in which 
they lived was there. It was unoccupied, and wild deer 
were feeding on the deserted grounds. They had evi- 
dently been killed by the Indians. 

The new colony of Governor White soon commenced the 
work of settlement on the island where so much trouble had 
overtaken the other colonies. Soon after their arrival, 
Virginia Dare, daughter of Eleanor Hare, and grand- 
daughter of Governor White, was born. She was the 
first child of our race born in America. 

The colony found the Indians unfriendly to them, and 
they proposed to White to return to England and bring out 
more persons, in order to strengthen their power. He left 
for Eno;land with fifty of the men. Before leaving, it 
was aijreed between them that if the colony should be 
compelled to leave the island they should go to Croatan, 
where the Indians were more friendly to them. And if 
they left, they should write on a tree in plain letters the 
name Croat vn, and if their leavinc,- was caused by any 
trouble with the Indians, they should make a plain cross- 
mark over the word. 

White returned to England, and, on account of the dis- 
turbance of the country by the war with Spain, he was 
not able to return to Roanoke Island in two years. 

After two years he returned to the island and could 



lo grandfather's tales. 

not find any of the colony tliat he left there. They were 
all gone, and he could find nothing of them at the city of 
Kaleigh where he had left them. 

Near the shore he found a tree with the letters C R O 
plainly cut on it, and not far oif he found another tree 
with the letters Croatan cut on it. There was no cross- 
mark on the tree. So he thought they were all safe at 
Croatan, and he made preparations to go there. 

He went on board his vessels to make sail for Croatan, 
but a storm came on which prevented his leaving, and his 
provisions were nearly exhausted. 

So he concluded he would first go to the West Indies to 
get a new supply of provisions and make some repairs to 
his vessels. 

But he was compelled by stress of weather to abandon 
the intention of going to the West Indies, and directed his 
course to England. 

This was the last attempt to sustain an English colony 
on Roanoke Island. White's colony was never 'heard of 
again, and their fate will always be a mystery. 

There have been several opinions of what became of 
them, but all is mystery, and nothing is certain. They are 
merely the opinions of persons feeling in the dark for 
what can never be positively known. 

Some are of the opinion that they went to Croatan, and, 
after years of hardship and despair of ever seeing their 
English friends and kindred again, they intermarried with 
the Indians and fell back into their savage mode of life. 

This opinion can hardly be correct, because there were 
nearlv an hundred men, women and children of the colony, 
and some of them would have kept the blood p\ire in their 
families. 

Another reason to ]n'ove that they were not absorbed 
and mixed with the Indian race, is that iSTorth Carolina 
was settled by the white race on Albemarle Sound only 
sixty years from the time of the lost colony. 

Some of them would huxe been found living among the 
Indians when the white settlers came to Albemarle Sound. 



THE LOST COLONY. II 

When the settlers came to Albemarle from Virginia, 
Virginia Dare would not have been much over sixty years 
old, if she had been living. 

If a number of white people had been living at the 
lower end of Albemarle Sound, the Indians living at the 
other end of the Sound would have known it, and would 
have let the new comers of the same color know of it. 

The Indian tribes were migratory, and knew each other 
who were distant. The Indians on Roanoke Island knew 
the Indians who lived on Chesapeake Bay and on James 
River. 

It is not possible, then, that a race of men entirely differ- 
ent in color could have lived among the Indians of Croatan 
without being known to the Indians of Albemarlo Sound. 

Another opinion is that AVhite's colony went to Croatan, 
and then moved higher up Albemarle Sound and settled 
among the VeoDom Indians in Perquimans Countv and 
kept themselves apart from the Indians. 

This oninion is formed from this circumstance : 

The names of the settlers who came to Roanoke Island 
with Governor White are known, and it is a little surpri'^- 
ing that many of the same names have been well-known 
names among the peonle living in the Yeopom neighbor- 
hood of Perquimans County. The same names are known 
there to this day. 

This is a strong: circumstance. Many historical facts 
are traced to the names of families. 

It is commonly believed that two of the brothers of 
Oliver Cromwell came to Halifax County, in Jl^orth Caro- 
liua, after the restoration of the Englisli monarchy, to nvoi'l 
])unishment in England. 

They changed their names to Crowell, but their iir^^t 
names were the same with the Crom wells of England for 
many generations, and this, with other circumstances, 
caused them to be taken for Cromwell's brothers. 

But the lost colony could not have settled in Per- 
quimans. 

When the settlements were made on Albemarle Sound 



12 GRANDFATHER S TALES. 

from \'irnini:i, if there liad been a colony of English peo- 
ple there when they came, it would have been mentioned 
in the records of that time relatins; to the Albemarle set- 
tlement. 

What, then, became of the lost colony about which tliere 
has been so much unsatisfied curiosity ? 

My opinion is that the,y were murdered by the Indians. 
The Indian character for cruelty favors that opinion. 
The hostility of race favors it. The Indians of Roanoke 
Island were unfriendly to the whites. The Croatan In- 
dians were supposed to be friendly to the whites. But 
they were only a few miles from Roanoke Island, and 
were in sympathy with tliose Indian tribes. 



BEGINNING OF A NATION. 
SCRAPS OF ANTIQUARIAN LORE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S COLONY. 

In 1865 there were discovered in the British Museum 
original drawino-s of the Indians that were seen by Sir 
Walter Raleigh's colony on Roanoke Island, tombs of the 
Indian Chiefs and a map of the country, as seen by the 
colonists. These drawings were made by losin AVhite, 
who came to Roanoke Island as an artist with the first col- 
ony and was afterwards sent out as Governor with the 
second colony, and who w^as the grandfather of Virginia 
Dare, the first Anglo-Saxon born in America. They are 
now preserved with great care in the Grenville collection 
of American antiquities in the British Museum, and were 
first 2:iven to the public, with Dermission of the m.^.nagers 
of the Museum, by John Eggleston in 1882. 

Wh.ite appears to have been no mean nrtist. ITis -KOtch 
of the tombs of the Indian Chiefs (the Westminster Abbey 
of the savages) would do no discredit to art in our time. 
It is probable that some such sepulchre may yet be found 



BEGINNING OF A NATION. 1 3 

on Koaiioke Island, if proper diligence were used in the 
examination. 

It is to be regretted that no likeness is extant, so far as 
we know, of old Manteo, the friend of the whites, constant 
through all their trials, the first Indian admitted by bap- 
tism within the pale of the Christian Church, admitted 
under the adopted title bv ba^->tism of "Lord of Koanoke." 
One so distinguished by title and by baptism surely awa- 
kened curiosity at the court of Elizabeth, to which he was 
carried on the return voyage of some of the colonists, and 
that public curiosity must have placed his face on the 
artist's canvas. It may yet be found. The drawings 
of White were unknown for nearly three hundred years. 

The map executed bv White has adopted the names of 
some localities wdiich have come down to our time. 
"Roanoke" is evidently our Roanoke Island, as appears 
from the name and the location. "Chawanoke" is evidentlv 
intended for our Chowan, from its location on the map 
high up the broad waters. "Pasquotac," lower down on 
the map, naist be intended for our corrupt spelling of Fas- 
(luotnnk. "Platlrask" is our Hatteras, "Wococon" would 
be our Wiccakon Creek, of Hertford County, but its local- 
ity in the sounds below Roanoke Island would not seem 
to indicate it. "Croatan" preserves its name and locality 
through all time. "Weapomeoc," from its locality, miglit 
be Yeopim, with some reach of the imagination. "Etar- 
retoac" and "]Srausa2;oe" and "Menteo" and "Paquippe" 
and "Raguiac," and some others, are prominent names 
on Wliite's map which have faded from the memories of 
men. 

The ma]i of White is profusely illustrated with the tinny 
monsters of the deep. Whales, and porpoise, and sharks, 
and devil-fish, and flying-fish abound. 

But the most curious of the drawings of White is the 
mode of sepulture of the magnate savages, chiefs of the 
tribe and dignitaries of the land. In his own description 
it is: 

"The tombe of ther Cherounes or chiefe personages. 



14 grandfather's tales. 

their flesh clene taken of from the bones save the skjnn and 
heare of theirc heads, which flesh is dried and enfolded 
in matts Lnid at tlicire feete, their bones also being made 
dry ar covered with deare skins not altering- their formie 
or pro])ortion. With tlieire Kywash, wliich is an Image 
of woode keeping the deade." 

The descriptive drawing of the Indian mode of dis- 
posing of their dead, is altogether singular to ns. After 
arranii'ing the bodies as mentioned by White, they are 
placed under a canopy with their heads downward and 
their feet confined in mats and a wood idol placed beside 
them, as if in protection of the sacred deposit. 

The conjurer, as drawn by White, an oflicial chiu-acter 
anion"' lhe Indians of Roanoke Island, is a grotesque 
looking fellow, a dancinc:, gay, pantomimic character, 
altogether out of keeping with our conceptions of the grav- 
ity of one who deals with the mysterious and the super- 
natural. The conjurer, as drawn by Wliite, must have 
placed or broken the spell of coujui'atioii bv the aid of rhe 
terpsicliorean art. 

The priest and the doctor, the medicine man and the 
minister in holy offices among the Indians of the Island, 
as drawn bv White, is a different looking character from 
the lively conjurer, although their offices were kindred. His 
dress resembles the Roman toga, a tunic extending below 
the tliijihs. Grave, demure, serious, and solemn-looking, 
he evidentb- was fully impressed with, or affected to be 
impressed with, the importance of his solemn oflice. He 
was evidently a man of sorrows and acnuainted with 
grief, aud the transports of beatitude did not entci- into hi'=; 
concei)tions of tlie dark, mysterious unknown. 

Wyngino's wife, tlie King of the tribe, or oue of them, 
for polygamy was part of the Mormonatic faith of the 
Indians of Roanoke, as drawn by White, is attired in 
short tights that stop above the knee. She is a comely- 
lookiug maiden and was drawn by White, with arms folded 
over her shoulders, with calves crossed, with head and arms 
ornamented with jewels of bead work, probably obtained 



LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE. 15 

from the colonists, and, from appearance, is not nnadapted 
to awaken the King's love. 

The village of Secotan, which was on the Island, we 
believe, is also drawn by White. The houses are not the 
wigwams of our youthful conception, but are built in sim- 
ple stvle, all alike, resemljling somewhat the round -top, 
huge tobacco wagons of Granville County, some nestling in 
shade, some out, some located in pairs, some without ref- 
erence to order or design, not laid off in streets, built irreg- 
ularly. To give artistic effect, we suppose, White, in his 
drawing of the village Secotan, scatters Indians about, 
generally groupina: in pairs, one with the emblematic bow 
and arrow, some around a camp fire. The houses are 
without chimneys or smoke valves, Init seem to have abun- 
dant ventilation. 

This was the Roanoke Island of the aborigines. Men of 
Roanoke, you have a goodly heritage and tread consecrated 
ground. You are at the fountain of a great stream that 
has gone on widening and deepening until it has become 
the master work of the great Anglo-Saxon race, a race be- 
yond compare among the sons of men, a race without 
whose record the history of the world would be incomplete. 



LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE. 

Across the twilight of the ages past 
A spectral figure moves vague, undefined : 
And where it goes a shade comes o'er the mind. 
As 't were some picture overcast 

In the earlv wart of the seventeenth century, that is, 
about the year 1615, or 1620, the Indian hunters who 
lived on Roanoke Island were greatly excited by seeing 
a milk-white doe among the herd of deer that were then 
commonly found on the island. 

It attracted the attention of the hunters because it was 



1 6 grandfather's tales. 

the most beautiful one of all the herd, because it was the 
fleetest, and because the most skilful marksmen had never 
been able to kill it Avith an arrow. Okisco, a noted hunter, 
Avlio lived among the Chawanooke tribe, was sent for, and 
he drew his bow upon the beautiful white doe, but he never 
could do her harm. 

She came to be well known to the Indian hunters of 
Roanoke Island, and was often found on the situation of 
the old city of Raleigh, apart from the herd of deer, with 
her sad face toward the east. Again and again she was 
hunted, but all the arrows aimed at her life fell harmless 
beside her. She bounded over the sand-hills with the 
swiftness of the winds and always turned in the direction 
of Croatan. 

Huntine' parties of Indians were made ud to entrap lier 
by stationing themselves along the tracks of her flight, 
^\■hich had become known to the hunters by liei" always lak- 
ing the same course. But all their efforts were without 
avail. The swift white doe seemed to have a charmed life, 
or to be under the protection of some Divine power. 
Everyone now talked of the white doe, and everyone had 
liis own opinion about her. The braves, the squaws, and tlie 
papooses talked of the milk-white doe. Some had fears 
of evil from the strange aDParition. Some thought she was 
the omen of good, and some thought it was the spirit of 
some sad departed. 

Sometimes she would be seen on the high grounds of 
Croatan, sometimes in the swamps of Durant's Island, 
sometimes upon the Cranberry bogs of East Lake, often 
on Roanoke Island near Raleigh City, and sometimes, 
tliough rarely, on the sands of Kill Devil Hills ; sometimes 
alone, always sad and beautiful. 

The news of the white doe spread far and wide, and old 
Winc'ina determined to call a council of chiefs to determine 
what to do. 

'Okisco, chief of the Chawanookes ; Kuskatenew and Ivil- 
kokanwan, of the Yeopoms, and others, attended tlie coun- 
cil. They all came with their attendants, all armed with 



LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE. 17 

llieir war weapons, the bow and arroAv. They determined 
to liave a gTand hunt in the early Indian summer time, and 
without delay. In November, when the leaves had fallen 
and the earth was carpeted with its brown and russet, cov- 
ering of forest leaves, all the friendly eliiefs came to Roan- 
oke Island to join the fierce Wingina in his appointed hunt 
i for the milk-white doe, and each with his chosen weapon 
' of the chase. 

; The cliiefs, after their feast, prepared by the wife of 
, Wingina, agreed that they should station themselves along 
' the course of the white doe when pursued by the hunters, 
j and either exhaust her in the chase, or slay her with their 
deadly arrows. Wingina, the most powerful of all, took 
I his place at Raleigh ( 'ity, where the doe always passed 
and always stopped. 

Old Granganimeo, the brother of Wingina, took his 
stand at Croatan Sound, where she crossed to Roanoke 
Island. 

Okisco took his stand upon the goodly land of Pomonik, 
in the low grounds of Durant's Island. 

Kind old Manteo went up into the shaky land Wocokon, 
among the prairies and cranberry liogs of East Lake. 

Minatonon, the fierce chief who made his home at Se- 
quaton, took his stand at Jockey's Ridge, by the sea, in the 
land of the Coristooks. 

Wanchese took his stand at Kill Devil, in the country 
of Secotan. 

They had all l)rought with them their best bows and 
arrows, and also their chosen archers. But the bow of 
Wanchese differed from the others. When, long ago, he 
had gone over the sea to England, the great Qnoen had 
given him an arrow-head made of solid silver, like the 
stone arrows-head that Amadas carried to Sir Walter Ral- 
eigh with his other Indian curiosities. It was made by 
her most expert workers in silver, and she told him it would 
kill the bearer of a cliarmed life that no other arrow could 
wound. Wanchese carried this with his other weapons, 
and determined to test its power upon the swift white doe. 



i8 grandfather'vS tales. 

Manteo started the doe in the shaky land of Wocokon. 
She started nnharmed at the twang of the bow-string. She 
sped Avith the swiftness of the north wind's breath. Through 
the tangle wood of Wocokon, through the bogs* and mo- 
rasses of Pomonik, across the highlands of Croatan, on, on, 
she went, and the twang of the bowstring was the harm- 
less music of her flying bounds. She plunged into the 
billows of Croatan Sound. She reached the sand hills of 
Roanoke, leaving the Indian hunters far behind her. As 
she came to the island, old Granganimeo drew his bo"w and 
sped his harmless arrow. She stood upon the top of the 
old fort at Raleigh City, snifl^ed the breeze and looked sadly 
over the sea. Wingina carefully and steadily drew upon 
her panting side the deadly arrow. All in vain. She 
bounded into Roanoke Sound and across to the sea. Mena- 
tonon was at Jockey's Ridge, but his' arrow, too, was harm- 
less. The panting while doe found time at the Fresh Poiids 
to slake her thirst, and then, turning to the sea that she 
seemed to love with an unnatural affection, sped onward, 
until she reached the steep hills of Kill Devil. There, 
alas ! was her doom. Wanchese, taking aim with his silver 
arrow, aimed at her heart, let fly the fated bowstring, and 
the sad and beautiful milk-white doe sprang into die air 
with the fatal arrow in her heart, and fell to the ground. 

Wanchese ran to the spot and found the victim writhing 
in the death agonv. She lifted lier dying, soft eyes to the 
red man and uttered her last sound, "Virginia Dare." 
Under her throat the w^ords "Virginia Dare" were plainly 
pencilled in dark hair, and on her back was pencilled in 
brown hair the name "Croatan." 



LEGEND OF BATz's GRAVE. 19 



LEGEND OF BATZ'S GRAVE. 

i^EAE Drunimond's Point, on the upper waters of Al- 
bemarle Sound, lies a solitary island, now uninhabited, 
once the home where the goat browsed and the gull built its 
nest and defied the storm with its discordant scream. Its 
name is "Batz's Grave." Within living memory no man 
has dwelt thereon, but, within living memory it was the 
roost of myriads of migratory gulls, who held undisturbed 
possession of their island home. 

There is a legend about that desert island that furnishes 
food for the contemplative, a legend of love and sadness, 
a legend of Jesse Batz and Kickowanna, a beautiful maid- 
en of the Ohowanoke tribe of Indians. 

Batz was a hunter and trapper on the upper waters of 
Albemarle Sound, and was one of the earliest settlers that 
made a home in that paradise of the Indian hunter, where 
the wild game alone disputed his supremacy. 

Jesse Batz made his temporary home on the island that 
the Indians sometimes visited and called Kalola, from 
the innumerable flocks of sea-gulls that disturbed its soli- 
tude. Batz was friendly, ^and sometimes joined the In- 
dians in their hunting parties. He was young, comely 
and athletic. He became familiar to the Indians in their 
wigwams and the chase. 

There was one who was the light of the wigwam of the 
Chowanokes — who sometimes looked at Jesse Batz with 
the love-light in her eye— the pretty, nut-brown Kicko- 
wanna. Her eye was as a sloe, and her long and glossy 
hair was as a raven's wing. Her step was agile and 
graceful as the "down that rides upon the breeze." While 
Batz, the hunter, let flv the bowstring that brought down 
the antlered stag of the forest, a better archer aimed at 
Jesse's heart the fatal arrow, and he, too, fell, a victim 
of Cupid's unerring aim. The insidious poison rankled 
in his veins. H© was a changed man in everv look and 
tissue of his being. The chase had lost its charm. His 



20 grandfather's tales. 

eye would droop when Kiekowanna came. She was dfiugh- 
ter of the old King of the Chowanokes, Kilkanoo, the jewel 
of his eye. Kiekowanna was a Peri of beauty. Famed 
she was "throughout the land. The great Pamunky chief 
of the Chasamonpeak tribes to the north had sought her 
hand, and had offered alliance to Kilkanoo, chief of the 
Chowanokes, but his suit was rejected and he sought to 
obtain by violence what he could not by courtly supplica- 
tion. War raged for a time between Pamunky and Kil- 
kanoo. Batz fought with the Chowanokes. His valor, 
his strategv and his success were conspicuous. He led 
the Indian braves. In a hand-to-hand personal encounter 
with Pamunky he clove him down with his claymore, and 
in the fierce grapple would have brained him with his In- 
dian club, but the prostrate Pamunky sued for mercy. 
Batz's ire softened, and he gave him liis life. For Batz's 
deeds of bravery Kilkanoo adopted him as a member of 
the Chowanoke tribe, under the adopted name of Secotan, 
Avhich, interpreted, is— "The Great White Fade." 

Batz orew in favor and influence with the Chowanokes. 
He was always present at their councils, at their harvest 
dances, their war dances, and when they smoked the 
calumet he was given the biggest pipe of peace. 
Batz be<'ame an adopted Indian of the Chowanoke 
tribe. He adopted the Indian dress and customs. 
Th.e pretty Indian . maiden, Kiekowanna, whom he 
loved, and by whom he was loved, with winning 
words of love distilled into his willing ears the siren voice 
of ambition, and whispered low that when her father, 
Kilkanoo, should be beckoned up to the "happy himtmg 
orounds," he would be his chosen successor, King of the 
warlike Chowanokes. Batz and Kiekowanna lived and 
loved together. She pencilled his eyel^rows with the Ver- 
million of the cochukee root. She put golden rings in iiis 
nose and ears. She wound long strings of priceless pearls 
around his neck. Slie put the moccasin shoes and lea-uins 
around his feet and "limbs. She folded his auburn locks 
in fantastic folds around the top of his head, and decked 



LEGEND OF BATZ'S GRAVE. 21 

it witli tilt' eagle's feather, emblematic of his rank and 
station. And then she gave him the calnmet of peace and 
lo^e. And while he smoked the calnmet of peace and 
hapniness, eve met eye responsive in language known alone 
to love. He then looked the big Indian indeed, and the 
dream of love ei]Comi)assed them. 

While this dreamy delirium prevailed the stream of love 
ran on in its varying smooth and turbulent current. Batz, 
now a recognized power with the Chowanokes, made fre- 
ouent visits to his old island home, sometimes prolonged. 
While there in his solitude, the waves and the sea-gulls 
sane a lullaby to his weird fancies. The beauteous Indian 
maiden sometimes came from her home at the upper 
broad waters, and her visits were love's own paradise. 
She came from the opuosite shore of the mainland, pad- 
dling her liiiht canoe. Xo season knew her coming. 
Sometimes in the silent watches of the night, sometimes 
in the glare of middav. Always alone. Always aglow 
with love. And when she came it was love's high pas- 
time. The scream of the white gull was the chant of love. 
The ]nonotone of the waves was the lullaby of love. Tlvj 
sighing of the winds as they swept through the pendant 
mosses Avas a sigh of love, the very solitude and silence of 
the forest was love's chosen temple, and every nook and 
recess was a shrine. 

One night, alas ! it was a night of destiny ! the Indian 
maiden came, as was her wont. The angry clouds looked 
down, tlie storm raged, every scream of every sea-bird 
betokened danger niiih. The wind blew as 'twas its last, 
the lightnino' flashed, thunder pealed and the welkin rang 
wnth the echoes of the l^last. But love defies danger, and 
the pretty Indian maiden pushed through the storm to 
the lone island with the roar of thunder for her watery 
funeral requiem. 

Batz never left the island more. He remained there 
till he died, a broken-hearted man, sliattered in mind and 
body, and he rests there in his final rest till the resurrection 
note calls him to meet his loved ivickowanna. 



22 GRANDFATHER S TALES. 

AN UNSETTLED QUESTION. 

A LIFE OX THE OCEAN WAVE. 

Many events in history derive tlieir public interest from 
their antiquity. Some from their intrinsic importance, 
some from the fact that it was a matter in dispute, and 
men are naturally attracted to any matter of contention 
or conflict, from the clash of arms in battle array to a 
common dog fight in which Tige gnaws oif the ears of Lion 
in a rough-and-tumble fight. 

The question of where Amadas and Barlowe first landed 
on the coast of North Carolina, arid through what inlet 
on our sand-barred coast they came to Roanoke Island, 
is now a controverted question that antiquarians have failed 
to satisfactorily settle. It is of no practical importance. 
It interests only a few old fossils as it interested a few of 
tlie old departed, like Dr. Frank Plawks, of sainted mem- 
orv, and John IT. Wheeler, likewise sainted. But yet it 
interests these old men, and the younger generation are 
toler;int of them, and from a spirit of charity and kind- 
ness turn from the practical athletic tilts of life to listen 
to these speculations, which are of as much practical im- 
portance as the mediawal angry disputes as to the differ- 
ence between "tweedledum and Iweedledee." 

Nevertheless, we are in the fight, and we will venture 
a few su<rgestions upon the subject of the entrance of the 
primal discoverers into the North Carolina sounds. 
There are many explorers of that subject, and if .^madas 
and T^arlowe had known the good ^^'ork they were biiilding, 
and had only driven down a stake in the sand and by a 
suitable inscriplion had marked the place of their entry, 
they Avould have saved enough printer's ink to run seven- 
teen weekly coimtrv newspapers during their existence. 
F(ir ;i hundred years and more it was considered a settled 
fact that the two ships of Sir Walter Raleigh's exi^edition 
to America came in at Ocracoke Inlet and sailed north 
for Roanoke Island, where iliev settled and builded the 



AN UNSETTLED QUESTION. 23 

old fort on the west end of the island. This theory was 
undisputed for over a hundred years. But after tlie lapse 
of ages the old. inlet opposite Roanoke Island, which was 
closed to navigation about 1800, became a commercial 
factor, and a handy football of the politicians, and proba- 
bly from that cause was given prestige as the old inlet 
thiouffh w]iich Amadas and Barlowe entered the inland 
sounds. This theory was generally accepted ui-til Dr. 
Hpwks, who was too great a genius for a historian, discov- 
ered that the historians before him were all mistaken, and 
that the explorers came in at ISTew Inlet. He determined 
it by the measurement of leagues from Roanoke Island 
to i^Tew Inlet, v/hich corresponds with the distance men- 
tioned by the navigators. But New Inlet has not been 
navigable for sea vessels ^^ithin living tradition or histori- 
cal record. It is now nearly closed, as is Roanoke Inlet, 
which, according to maps of recent discovery, had through 
it in 1738 twentv-four feel of water. 

Old Mrs. Hay man, who^ lived beyond one hundred years, 
said that a dee]3 inlet came through the "Fresh Ponds" 
when she was a little girl. Some say Raleigh's naviga- 
tors came through "Old Taffy's Inlet." And so it goes. 
Amadas and Barlowe little dreamed of the trouble they 
have given us. 



24 grandfather's tales. 



GEORGE DURANT AND KILCOKANNAN. 

A wit's a feather, a fool's a rod, 

An honest man's the noblest work of God. 

Did you ever hear the name "Poor Lo f Well, 1 will 
tell you. 

The race of Ameriean Indians is called Poor Lo, ])ecause 
they are the "poor" of all the races of men. ''Lo" is an 
exclamation, meaning' "behold !" Behold the poor Indian ! 

The Indians are a revengeful race, and when they are 
wronged, they return injury for injury, and are cruel in 
the treatment of their enemies. 

They have suffered much from the Anglo-Saxon race, 
and our race has suffered much from them. They are a 
race of red men, and the race of white men have driven 
them back and back from their homes and hunting grounds. 
The race, in a few years more, will be utterly extinct, and, 
like the buffalo of the plains tliat tliov hunted, will be 
unknown upon the earth. 

The discoverers of Amei'ica thouglit that no men had 
any right to a coimtry unless they were Christian men, 
and they claimed all the land that they discovered that was 
not inhabited by Christian people. But this was not the 
teacliiiig of our holy religion. 

That religion teaches that all men have rights, and that 
they must have what belongs to them, though they may be 
of different color, and the commandment applies to heath- 
en as well as to Christian men. 

But the early discoverers of America did not think the 
Indians had any riolu to the land they lived and hunted on, 
and so they took their lands. 

But there w^ere exceptions to this. George Durant, of 
North Carolina, and the Quaker, William Penn, of Penn- 
sylvania, are honorable exceptions, and should always be 
honored as men who dealt justly with the Indians. 

William Penn purchased of the Indians in Pennsylva- 
nia the land upon which the city of Philadelphia now 



GEORGE DURANT AND KILCOKANNAN. 25 

stands, and paid them for it. George Durant purchased 
from Kilcokannan, King of the Yeopim Indians, the land 
now called Dnrant's iSIeck, in Perquimans County, and 
paid him for it. The tract of country that George Du- 
rant bought was then called Wecocomicke. 

Would % on like for me to tell you how he bought Weco- 
comicke, and how he paid for i+ '' 

George Durant had come down from Virginia and set- 
tled on Albemarle Sound, and after being in tlie country 
now called Durant's Xeck about a year, he said to one of his 
friends : ''This is a good country to make a home in ; the 
land is rich : the forest is full of wild animals of every 
kind ; the waters are full of fish, and the red men are 
friendly. If I only knew of whom to buy the land, I would 
purchase and seitlo down for life." 

"Whom V said his friend ; "why Kilcokannan, King of 
the Yeopims, is the owner, if tliere is any owner ; or you 
might take the land. Kilcokannan is a heathen, and 
none but Christians own these lands." 

'That may be Christian law," said Durant; "but it is 
not the law of Christ. He did not take awav from Ctesar 
what belonged to (Vsar, and Csesar was a heathen, just 
as Kilcokannan is. Caesar was a learned and powerful 
heathen, and Kilcokannan is poor and helpless. The 
goodly land of Wecocomicke belongs to Kilcokannan, and 
if I get it, I shall pay him for it; I had rather settle 
with Kilcokannan tlian hereafter with that Judge who 
knoweth all things and punisheth the unjust." 

The friend with whom Durant had these kind words 
was named Pritlove, and it was agreed between them that 
Pritlove should offer to purchase the Wecocomicke from 
Kilcokannan for George Durant. 

Some days after this conversation between Pritlove 
and George Durant, Pritlove met Kilcokannan on a bear 
hunt, and mentioned, by signs and language as best he 
could, that George Durant would like to buy of him the 
goodly land of Wecocomicke. 

Kilcokannan was silent. He then lifted his eyes to- 



26 grandfather's tales. 

ward the sun, bowed his head to the earth, watched the 
direction of the wind, and, by signs and language, said: 
''My braves." 

By this he meant that he would consult his Indian war- 
riors about it. 

The warriors assembled at Kilcokannan's request. 
George Durant w^as invited to be present. Kilcokannan 
had a bear's head scalp on his head, an alligator's tooth 
hung from his breast, and scarlet moccasins were on his 
legs. His warriors sat around him decked in the plu- 
mage of birds and the skins of wild animals. 

George Durant sat apart from the rest, dressed in 
broad-brim hat and long Quaker coat. All were seated 
on a cloth spread out on the ground. All were silent. A 
large pipe was handed around, and each one smoked in 
silence. 

Then Kilcokannan spoke to the assembled warriors for 
some time, but his words were not understood by Durant. 

The warriors then arose from their seats and, one by 
one, they passed before Kilcokannan, bowing low as they 
passed him. They then seated themselves, and Kilco- 
kannan, taking his pipe, smoked first and then handed it 
in turn to the others. 

At the first smoke, the pipe was lianded to Durant last. 
This time Durant smoked next after Kilcokannan, and 
after all had smoked, Kilcokannan arose, walked over to 
where Durant was sitting, touched him on each cheek, and 
again took his seat. 

All this Indian ceremony meant that the Indians would 
sell tlio land to George Durant and live in peace. 



THE STORY OF WILLIAM DRUMMOND. 2'] 



THE STORY OF WILLIAM DRUMMOND. 

" We stand aghast with horror, 
At the deep damnation of his taking off." 

— Macbeth. 

Soon after the country alonjs; Albemarle Sound was set- 
tled, William Drummond was appointed Governor.- He 
was the first Governor of the colony that was known as 
North Carolina. 

He was ap]")ointed by the Lords Proprietors, to whom the 
King of England had granted all the Albemarle country. 

These Proprietors were eight English noblemen to whom 
the King gave the country. They had power to establish 
a government over the country, to make laws and appoint 
officers. 

This was about the year 1664 that they appointed 
Drummond Governor. 

Drummond was by birth a Scotchman, and when he 
was aopointed Governor he was living in Virginia. 

He was a good man and made a good Governor. 

Like most of the Scotchmen that came to America, he 
was industrious, energetic and attentive to business. 

The people liked him, and named Drummond's Point 
on Albemarle Sound after him. They also named Lake 
Drummond, in the Dismal Swamp, after him, and these 
places keep his name to this day. 

He visited different parts of the country that he was 
appointed over. He was interested in the people living 
in North Carolina, and was popular with them. 

While he held the office of Governor, the country was 
prosperous and the population grew in numbers. 

He was appointed Governor for three years, but made 
such a good chief officer that he would probably have been 
reappointed to the same office. 

But the ways of an overruling Providence in the things 
of this world are past finding out. What seems to us cruel, 
time proves to have been kind. What looks to us unwise, 
time proves it wise. 



28 grandfather's tales. 

Our i)laee and our duty is patience and waitinu;, sub- 
mission, trnst. Time, ])(>rha]>s, may show ns that "all 
thino'S work togethfr for 2:ood." Perhaps not. But wait. 

The close of Dnimmond's life was an nnhappy one. 
His death was a cruel one. He met death with a hero's 
courace, without a word of supplication or complaint. 

TTe died for popular liherty. He fell in an uprisinc: for 
freedom. He shed his blood a2;ainst tyranny. He died an 
ignominious death at the hands of a tyrant. 

Tt is an honor to Morth Carolina and to the Albemarle 
country that her first Governor died a martyr in the cause 
of the people. His name^ — the name of William Hrum- 
mond, the first Governor of ISTorth Carolina — should have 
a warm place in the hearts of his coimtrymen. 

Would vou like to know liow and why he came to die? 
Listen. 

William Drummond was a citizen of the colony of Vir- 
ginia when he was appointed Governor of N^orth Carolina. 

When he came into the Albemarle country to be Gov- 
ernor of the colony, T think he settled about Edenton or in 
Durant's ^eck. T think so, because the Chowanook In- 
dians had a considerable settlement Avhere Edenton now 
stands. 

Or he may have settled in Durant.'s Ts'eck, wliere the 
Yeopim Indians lived, because most of the earlv white set- 
tlers came to Perquimans County, in Durant's >Teck. 

Governor Drummond was visitino; his old home in 
Viririnia, and while there he found the people of Viro-inia 
in arms ag'ainst the a'overnment. 

It was an armed rebellion aixainst the authority of Gov- 
ernor Berkley, of Yiro-inia. 

Berkley was a harsh, rouuh man of uuu-overned tem- 
per. He was an i2:norant man himself, and wanted the 
peo]ile under him to be more iijnoraut than he was. He 
des]>ised education, and in one <^f his public papers said 
he did not want a school or a priutino- press in Virginia. 
If you were not too polite -au^ i-efiued to use tlie word, 
vou would sav he was a "fool." 



THE STORY OF WILLIAM DRUMMOND. 29 

When Druinniond went to Virginia the people were vio- 
lent against Berkley. 

The leader in opposition to him was a yonng lawyer 
named IS^icholas Bacon. 

Bacon was a good speaker and a popular man. He in- 
flamed the passions of the people. He denounced Berk- 
lev as a corrnpt despot. 

He drew his own sword and called npon the people to 
drive Berkley from power, Many of the people took 
sides with him. 

Drnmmond, with his liot Scotch blood, was fresh from a 
peo]de who loved liberty, and had left Virginia for the 
freedom of the Albemarle country. 

He natnrallv took sides with Bacon and the people. 
He knew Berkley ; knew him to be a selfish tyrant, an 
ignorant nder who used his power for his own benefit, 
and liad sometimes used his authority to the injury of the 
Albemarle settlers. 

Drnmmond took up arms for Bacon and the people of 
Virginia. He gave to the cause his wise council and his 
brave arm. 

Might and power prevailed. The popular outbreak was 
put down. 

Some fled. Some surrendered. Some were captured. 

Drnmmond was one of those who were captured. 

He was brought before the tyrant, probably in irons, 
who saluted him with mock courtesy. 

''Good mornino-, Mr. Drnmmond, " said Berkley, making 
him a low bow, ''you are welcome. I had rather see you 
than any one else. You shall be hanged in half an hour." 

Then, turning: to his attendants, he ordered a trial, sen- 
tenced Driunmoiid to deatli, and he was executed in less 
Hme than Borklov had said. 

Drummond died a martyr to popular li])prty. He was 
the first noted rebel of Xorth Carolina. He was the first 
Governor of North Carolina that took arms agains ta ty- 
rant. Caswell was the second, and Ellis and Vance were 
later in arms against usurpation. 



30 grandfather's tales. 

When King Charles of England heard of Drummond's 
death, he said, speaking of Berkley; "That old fool haa 
taken more lives in that naked country without offence 
than 1 have in all England for the murder of my father." 

But the King did not 2"o far enough. He ought to have 
ordered him to England and had him tried and punished 
for tyranny and murder. 

Such was the sad fate of our first Governor. It was a 
cruel fate. But he died a hero. No word of fear fell 
from his lips. Cherish his memory, sympathize with his 
misfortunes. Turn from the tyrant who caused his 
death. 

Drummond has no monument of marble or brass. But 
his monument is in our hearts, and we keep fresh therein 
the inscription of his virtues. 

Our good old mother State has not been generous to the 
memory of her dead sons. She has raised few marble 
monuments to their honor. It is not well. But we must 
love her none the less. We must make our hearts their 
monuments and mark their virtues there. 

Loving hearts are imperishable. Marble monuments 
moulder into dust. Your young hearts are of wax. I 
want you to inscribe upon their waxen tablets the name of 
Drummond. 



OUR PARLIAMENTARY GENESIS. 3 1 

OUR PARLIAMENTARY GENESIS. 
(The hole whence we were digged. — Is.) 

JSTatube's work is ii]:)ward from small beji'innings, as 
oaks from acorns and large streams from fountains. St. 
Peter's at Rome is the successor of the "Groves that were 
God's first temples." Rome from twin brothers nurtured 
bv a wolf. England from the thick mists of its early his- 
tory. Massachusetts from wandering pilgrims in search 
of liberty. J^orth Carolina, the cradle of our country, 
started at its first attempt at settlement in an environ- 
ment of sorrow that crowns it with the cypress wreath of 
mourning. That abortive struggle was followed by the 
trapper and the hunter, that by the successful quest of 
"bottom lands," and that by organized government in its 
humblest forms. 

The earliest record of organized government in ISTorth 
Carolina is of a general assembly of the people of the col- 
ony at the house of Captain Hecklefield, which is supposed ■ 
to have been located at the present site of Nixonton, in Pas- 
quotank County, long familiarly known as "Old Town," 
because it was the first county-seat of government of Pas- 
quotank Comity, and was succeeded by Elizabeth City, on 
Pasquotank River, in the year 1800. 

But tradition is the parent of history, and, like all un- 
written history, is typified by the sybelline leaves of classio 
storv, written on leaves and scattered to the winds. 

We have a tradition of our early Parliamentary history 
that has never before, as we remember, been committed to 
the custody of written language; and as it came to us 
from an authentic source in which we have great faith, 
we hand it down on the wings of "Grandfather's Tales." 

When a lad in our formative period of life, somewhere 
about a dozen years, on its sunny or shady side, we were 
the ready boy of a large kindred family connection. We 
went on errands, we visited the sick ; when an old member 
of the family visited their children or grandchildren, we 



32 grandfather's tales. 

were the ready l)o_v to carrv tliein around from jdaee to 
place. It was a convenience to them, and not without 
profit to. US, which profits we quickly invested in ginger 
cakes and beer, which, though not a very permanent in- 
vestment, doubtless brought us as much real happiness as 
if invested in real estate or government bonds. 

Gen. Duncan McDonald, of Edenton, was our kinsman 
by marriage, a good man, fond of children, indulgent 
and liberal with them. He was a military man by train- 
ing and position, and his official business often called him 
to distant places in his military district. On one of these 
occasions he was called to Elizabeth City to review the 
militia of Pasquotank County. The ready boy was ready 
to take him, and more particularly as he was companion- 
able with boys. 

On the day app(unt(>d we equi])pod ourselves witli a 
"double gis:" and a nice steppino- horse, and started on our 
day's journey. The General was kind, chatty and com- 
panionable. 

ToAvard evening we crossed "Hall's Creek" bridge in 
Pasquotank County, a mile from the Hecklefiehl farm 
at Xixonton. On rising the hill at Hall's Creek, the Gen- 
eral stopped the horse and said to us : "The first General 
Assembly of ISTorth Carolina met nudor that tree," at the 
same time pointing to a large oak tree on the left-hand 
side of the road, that towered above tlie oaks that surround- 
ed it. 

He then chuckled to himself, and said that one of the by- 
laws of the Assembly was that "the members should wear 
shoes, if not stockings, during the sessions of the body, and 
that they must not throw their chicken and other bones 
under the tree." 

General McDonald was a man of literary culture, and 
particularly fond of antiquarian lore. He was greatly 
amused at the humble origin of our lea'islative history, 
and laughed over it with great glee. Tf the oak is still 
standing, it might be a good speculation to have it cut up 
into memorial walking canes to clog the pride of our 



CULPEPPER'S REBELLION. 33 

dandy legislators in Prince Albert coats, with kid gloves 
and gold-headed canes. It would serve as a lesson of hu- 
mility to remind them of the hole whence they were 
digged. 



CULPEPPER'S REBELLION. 

A land, rent with civil feuds. 
Drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood. 

— Webster. 

In 1677 there was a ''revolutionary time" in the Albe- 
marle, which section then constituted the chief settlement 
of Carolina. There was a dual government, or rather a 
dual usurpation of government. Miller and Culpepper 
both claimed supremacy. Miller had the best show of 
authority, being the representative of the duly author- 
ized Governor, by appointment of the Lords Proprietors, 
who lingered in the West Indies, allured by love, as it was 
supposed, but professing to be detained by sickness. Mil- 
ler, his secretary, was sent on ahead to hold the office of 
Governor by a temporary tenure. He came over to Al- 
bemarle with some show of authority and administered 
the government in an autocratic way. The people re- 
spected his authority and obeyed the laws which he en- 
acted for them. He imposed taxes, laid duties upon foreign 
imports, and ruled by his own free will. 

Culpepper, seeing that Miller was usurping power, set 
up a claim to the Governorship for liimself, and soon 
established a contraband trade witli Boston, then a preten- 
tious village in ISTew England. He defied the authority of 
Miller. He refused to pay the import duties imposed 
by Miller, and continued to trade with the rich planters 
of Albemarle Sound and its tributary waters, and was 
encouraged by them. There was absolute free trade, and 
Culpepper's profits from the government became greater 
than Miller's. 



34 grandfather's tales. 

This contraband trade was carried on mainly by one 
Gilliam, who commanded a "skipper" vessel, engaged 
in the trade with Boston. He was a shrewd fellow, and 
found a free trade with the farmers of the Albemarle, 
without the burden of impost duties, was profitable both 
to the rich planters and to himself. Culpepper winked 
at this contraband traffic. Gilliam winked back and 
pursued his business with great diligence. 

(jicorge Durant, who lived on Little River, was a very 
wealthy man, and, while a good and upright man, was 
thrifty in business and successful in the accumulation of 
wealth. Finding authority- disputed, with two men con- 
tending for supremacy, and not authorized or caring to 
soh'c the trouble, he took sides with that in which he 
found most profit and favored Culpepper. Favoring Cul- 
pepper, he favored Gilliam, and Durant's plantation be- 
came (Jilliam's head(iuarters for his illicit trade. 

Miller had the largest following, and having gone into 
office l),y peaceful methods he had the support of the more 
conservative classes of the population. Culpepper was 
a usur]~»cr, and made no claim to rightful authority. He 
was denounced by Miller as a lawless man, and attempts 
were made to arrest him for treason. 

Miller heard that Gilliam was in Little River, pursuing 
his unlawful business, and that he intended to come round 
into Pas(]uotank River and stop at Pembrook (uoav Cobb's 
Point) for the purpose of trading. Later he heard that 
Culpepper was to come round with him in his "skipper." 
He thought his opportunity had come, and determined to 
go to Pembrook, board the skijiper when she anchored, and 
arrest Culpepper as a lawless traitor. Relying upon his 
authority as Chief Magistrate of Carolina, he went to 
Pembrook and awaited the coming of Culpepper and Gil- 
liam. He did not wait long. The skipper soon arrived 
and cast anchor in the stream. Miller pushed off in a 
boat, boarded the skipper, found Culpepper and Gilliam, 
and demanded tlicir surrender in the name of the Province 
of Carolina. 



THE EDEN TON TEA PARTY. 35 

Culpepper and Gilliam showed iiii'ht, and instead of 
being' arrested by Miller, they overjjowered and arrested 
him, took him ashore and imprisoned him in the jail at 
Pembrook. 

Thus, havino* Carolina's questionable Governor in du- 
rance vile, Culpepper administered his usurped authority 
for eight years. 

What became of Miller in that lawless time, history 
and tradition is silent, but history tells us that Culpepper 
was aftei'wards arrested by order of the Lords Proprietors 
and taken to England for trial upon the charge of 
treason. 

He was defended by Lord Shaftesbury, the most dis- 
tinguislied jurist of the period, and acquitted upon the 
ground tliat there was no organized goveriunent in Caro- 
lina. 



THE EDENTON TEA PARTY. 
'• Do have a cup of tea, sir." 

Tea is a historic beverage. Before the dawn of civil- 
ization it was the national drink in the oldest Empire of 
the world. Before coffee l>ecame known in the social and 
festive Avorld, it was the solace and comfort of the aged. 
When coffee became its rival, it never supplanted it, and 
to this day tea is the favorite drink of the old, refined and 
luxurious. Doctor Johnson, the leviathan of English 
literature, astonished Mrs. Thrale by quaffing a dozen 
cu])S (»f his favorite tea at one sitting, at her hospitable 
board. 

It is not strange, tlicii, that tlie tax on tea by the Brit- 
ish I'arliament excited so much coin])laint among the 
patriots of the llevolution, and that the wives and moth- 
ers of the Revolution felt the burden of the tax on tea, and 
that tlie ladies of Ivh'nton felt the pressure more than 



36 grandfather's talks. 

elsewhere in the State, because it was the social and com- 
mercial scat of empire in North Carolina in the colonial 
times. 

So tliej met in a body, the prominent society ladies of 
the town, at tlie residence of Mrs. Barco, the wife of a 
distinguished barrister of the town, organized by ap])oint- 
ing Mrs. Barco to take tlie chair as president of the body, 
and adopted a set of patriotic resolutions, denouncing the 
tea tax of the British Parliament, and pledging them- 
selves not to use any more tea of British manufacture after 
that social evening while the odious tax on their favorite 
beverage continued in force. 

That patriotic indignation meeting was held October 
25, 1774. It was doubtless the sensation of the town, and 
gave new fuel to the fires that soon liurst into flame in the 
outburst of the lievolution. 

This was the only Tea Party that was ever held in North 
Carolina or the United States that became a factor in our 
great Revolutionary struggle. The Boston Tea Party 
was an Indian Masque Party. Without intending to dis- 
parage that famous historical event of our Boston brethren, 
tlie Masque Tea Party of Boston was an inspiration of com- 
merce rather than of patriotism. The Revolutionary Tea 
Party of Edenton was purely social and patriotic, and by 
that social and patriotic act of the Edenton dames, the 
''liand that rocked the cradle" nerved the arm of the heroes 
that fought the battles of the Revolution from Moore's 
Creek to Yorktown. 

From that Tea Party in Edenton hangs a tale, and a 
tale of romance and history. Its identity is established 
by the local traditions of tlie period and by the enduring 
record of the painter's art. 

In the early twenties of the last century, about the year 
1823 or 1824, there was brought to the town of Edenton 
by Captain Halspy, a worthy and intelligent sea-captain 
who traded froni Edenton up the ]\Iediterranean Sea, 
a painting on glass, headed "The Edenton Tea Party." 
On a vovaffe to the Mediterranean he met with William 




The Liilie. ul Klenton signing their Association. 



THE EDENTON TEA PARTY. 39 

T. Muse, a lieutenant in the United States JSTavy, a native 
of Pasqnotanl^ County, but long a resident of Eden ton, 
where he had been our schoolmate at the old Edenton 
Acadeinv, Bill Muse (how that loved name still makes the 
heart-strings of our memory tingle at the touch of the 
"Auld Lang Syne") gave Captain Halsey the painting 
above mentioned, and asked him to carry it home to Eden- 
ton and deposit it in a place of safety. Muse stated that 
he had found it hanging in a barber-shop in one of the 
islands of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Captain Halsey brouglit it home and placed it on exhi- 
bition in old Captain Manning's tailor shop. Eor several 
days it was the sensation of the town. Everybody went to 
see it. Some of the oldest people remembered the Tea 
Party that the painting commemorated. Some recognized 
the faces of some of the ladies in the painting. Mrs. 
Dickerson, a society lady of Edenton at the time, was 
pointed out as a most striking likeness. 

That painting on glass was broken in pieces some years 
after, and the broken pieces were put in place and photo- 
graphed and preserved as it was when it was brought home. 



40 grandfather's tales, 

john harvey. 

(THE GREAT REVOLUTIONARY LEADER ) 

It is one of the unsolved problems in human life wheth- 
er circumstances make great men or great men create the 
circumstances from which they spring, or whether they 
act and react upon each other. However that may be, 
John Harvey was the great leader of tlie Revolution in 
J^orth Carolina. The man and the circumstances met. 
Of illustrious descent, his ancestor John Harvey having 
been Governor of the Province many years before, of large 
wealth, of great influence, possessing that dominant will- 
power of which heroes are made, and with natural gifts that 
were formed for command, John Harvey was born with 
nature's signet of authority. 

He had long been the foremost man in the troublous 
times that preceded the Revolution, and had rode upon 
the storm of that ominous period that betokened the birth 
of the greatest event in the world's history. He was the 
central political figure in I^orth Carolina. All eyes 
turned to him in this crisis in the history of the Province. 
He rode upon its whirlwind and directed the storm. He 
was in the confidence of royal authority. He presided 
in the Assemblies convened by the order of the Governor 
appointed by the King of Great Britain ; but he was not the 
submissive tool of its authority. His heart was imbued 
with the spirit of independence that inspired a people 
who Avcre ''freest of the free." He was Speaker of the 
Assembly that Governor Martin prorogmed in order that 
the Legislature might "cool" and be more complaisant in 
some controversy with the GoA'ernor. The l^egislature 
met on the 4th of December, 1773. Meanwhile the por- 
tents of the Revolution had grown more inmiinent, and 
at a meeting of the Legislature on the 8th inst. following, 
a committee was appointed t£> obtain the ''earliest intel- 
ligence of proceedings in England relating to America, 
and to keep up correspondence with the other colonies." 



JOHN HARVEY. 4I 

This was the germ-seed of the devolution in North 
Carolina. It was a seed mainly planted by the hand of 
John Harvey. We will see later how that seed "fell upon 
good ground," and how the hand that ]ilanted it cultivated 
it with diligence. John Harvey was a skilled husband- 
man when he drove his plow in the Revolutionary furrow, 
and he produced fruits an hundred fold and more. 

Governor Martin's eyes were wide open to the impend- 
ing crisis, and he determined that North Carolina should 
not co-operate with the other colonies while he was the 
Governor of the Province. He recognized the spirit of 
independence that animated the people of the Province 
of North Carolina. He saw the swelling current of co- 
operation among the colonies, and he determined to thwart 
it by gubernatorial authority in North Carolina. He had 
the authority to convoke the Legislature, and he deter- 
mined that it should not meet, and that, consequently, the 
Province should not be represented in any Congress of 
the Colonies, for the purpose of co-operating in hostile 
declarations against Great Britain, "until matters were in 
better shape." 

Harvey was not sleeping at his post. He was informed 
of the designs of Governor Martin by the Governor's pri- 
vate secretary, probably with his approval, to intimidate 
Harvey. The lion-hearted hero of the Revolution held 
a meeting with Governor Johnston, of Edenton, and Col- 
onel Buncombe, of Tyrrell County, at "Buncombe Hall," 
the hospitable seat of the Colonel, and at their interview 
Harvey said, as he had declared to Martin's secretary, 
that if Governor Martin did not convoke the Assembly, 
"then the people will convene one themselves." 

The Governor did not convene the Assembly. 

Johnston, writing of that meeting at "Buncombe 
Hall" to William Hooper, of Wilmington, says: "Harvey 
was in a violent mood, and declared he was for assembling 
a convention independent of the Governor, and that he 
would lead the way and issue hand-bills over his own 
name." Later, leaders on the Cape Fear, acting on Har- 



42 grandfather's tales. 

vey's suggestion, called on the people to choose their 
deputies. 

That Convention met, although the Governor forbade 
it by proclamation. This was the first Revolutionary pop- 
ular Convention that ever met in America without royal 
authority, and in defiance of it. That Convention, and it 
was a very able one, met in Xew Bern, and John Harvey 
was its President. It passed resolutions denouncing the 
claim of the Parliament tx) tax the colonies without rep- 
resentation, denounced the tax on tea and forbade its use 
in North Carolina, denounced the Boston Port Bill, de- 
clared an import duty upon goods of English manufacture, 
declared in favor of a Continental Congress of the colo- 
nies, and appointed delegates to that Congress in Phila- 
delphia ; and it authorized John Harvey, the President, 
to call another Convention whenever he thought it expe- 
dient. 

That shows where iS^orth Carolina stood before there 
was an overt act of revolution, before a gun was fired at 
Lexington, and before Virginia showed her Revolutionary 
teeth. That showed the blood that flowed through John 
Harvey's veins. 

IsTow, a word for John Harvey's memory. Blessed 
memory ! Heroic inheritance ! Pirst to hurl defiance at 
royal authority in America! First to draw authority 
from the people instead of the King. Before Henry first 
uttered the slogan of ''liberty or death" in the sacred 
halls of old St. John's Church in Richmond, John Har- 
vey had proclaimed the supremacy of the people of N^orth 
Carolina over kings and their representatives. 

In the N"ational capitol at Washington there is a hall 
set a])art for the statues of two of the great men of the 
several States. North Carolina's niche in that hall is 
empty. A bust of Harvey would not add an atom to his 
heroic fame, but it would show the world that ingratitude 
is a sin that does not taruisli the good name of North Caro- 
lina, and that John Harvey's name and fame is her price- 
less heritaii'e. 



THE RESOLUTIONS OF ST. PAUL'S VESTRY. 43 

THE RESOLUTIONS OF ST. PAUL'S VESTRY. 
" Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." 

Many memorials of the patriotism of the citizens of 
North Carolina clnring the Revolutionary period exist and 
are preserved. Some have never had recognition, and 
some have slept the sleep of forgetfulness. Among those 
that have never had sufficient recognition are the resolu- 
tions of the vestrymen of old St. Paul's Church, Edenton, 
which are now preserved in the parish register of the 
church, and signed by Richard Hoskins, Wm. Boyd, Da- 
vid Rice, Thomas Benbury, Aaron Hill, Jacob Hunter, 
Pelatiah Walton, John Beasley, William Hinton, Wil- 
liam Bennet, Thomas Bonner and" William Roberts, on 
the 19th day of June, 17Y5. 

These men are "apples of gold in pitchers of silver," 
and should be toasted on all our ])atriotic anniversaries, 
that tried men's souls in the dark days of those bloody 
times that bred heroes and tested the fidelity of men to 
home and country. Mecklenburg's pride glows with a 
warmer heart-beat when the names of Brevard, Avery, 
Polk, Alexander, Davidson, Graham, Balch, and the other 
immortals that made the 20th of May the day of days in 
Carolina's annals. Everv true son of our dear old mother 
State joins hands and hearts with them in the loud acclaim 
of gratitude and honor. But who joins us in giving due 
honor to the Hoskins, the Benburys, the Beasleys, the 
Hills, the Hunters, the Hintons, the ]3onners, and the other 
patriots who embalmed the 19th of June in our annals, 
a month after the "INIecklenburg Declaration of Indepen- 
dence" ? 

Read these imiiiortal \vor<ls by the vestrymen of St. 
Paul's ("'hurch, in Edenton, and take oft' your hats in hon- 
or of the great men who were true to their country when 
the die trembled in the doubtful balance. Listen, and 
bless and honor the vestry resolutions that have rung down 
the ages. Who dare challenge their heroism, their pa- 



44 CxRandfather's tales. 

triotism. their virhic. l.istcn, and be prouder of voiir 
heritage of renown : 

"We, the undersigned, professing our allegiance to the 
King, and acknowledging the constitutional executive pow- 
er of the government, do solemnly profess and declare 
that we do absolutely believe that neither the Parliament of 
Great Britain, nor any member, or any constituent branch 
thereof, have a right to impose taxes upon these colonies 
to regulate the internal policy thereof; and that all at- 
tempts, by fraud or force, to establish and exercise such 
claims and po\\'ers are violations of the peace and security 
of the people, and ought to be resisted to the utmost; and 
that the people of this Province, singly and collectively, 
are bound by the acts and resolutions of the Continental 
and Provincial Congress, because in both the}^ are fully 
represented by persons chosen by themselves. And we 
do solemnly and sincerely promise and engage, under the 
sanctions of virtue, honor, and the sacred love of liberty 
and our country, to maintain and support all the acts and 
resolutions of the said Continental and Provincial Con- 
gress to the utmost of our power and ability. 

"In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, 
this 19th day of June, 1775." 

This protest of the vestrymen of St. Paul's Church, 
viewed in all its aspects, is most important, as indicative, 
of the spirit of our Revolutionary ancestors. Look at it: 
Edenton was the metropolis of the Royal Government in 
North Carolina. The agents of the British Government 
lived there. An atmos])here of i-oyalty pervaded the com- 
munity. Its most influential social element was among 
tlie representatives of the British Government. St Paul's 
Church was a beneficiary of the Church of England's "So- 
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel." The vestry of St. 
Paul's Church represented both ecclesiastical and civil au- 
thority. They were evidently sturdy men. The strong lan- 
guage of their resolutions indicate their earnest and sincere 
purpose. They were carrying burdens social and official 
that the patriots of Mecklenburg knew not of. When they 



THE REGULATORS. 45 

declared that "neither the Parliament of Great Britain 
nor any member or constituent branch thereof has a right 
to impose taxes upon these colonies to regulate the inter- 
nal policy thereof, and that any attempts to exercise such 
claims by force or fraud ought to be resisted to the ut- 
most," they rose to the full stature of stalwart manhood 
and meant to sunder all ties in conflict with their love of 
country. 



THE REGULATORS. 
THE BATTLE OF ALAMANCE. 

For time at last sets all things even, 
And if we do but watch the hour. 
There never yet was human power, 
That could evade, if unforgiven. 

There are three events in iSTorth Carolina history that 
have not been sufficiently commemorated: The Battle of 
Alamance, the Proceedings of the Vestry of St. Paul's 
Church of Edenton, and the Battle of Moore's Creek. 
Mecklenburg has been more fortunate. Its position was 
long contested, especially by the Virginia historians, but 
it has fought its way to public recognition and now lifts its 
head among the primal events of our Revolutionary his- 
tory. Even that heroic event was long disputed, and 
some of our most distinguished and faithful North Caro- 
linians doubted its authenticity. 

Alamance has been more unfortunate and longer in 
having its claim as the germ-seed of the Revolution, plant- 
ed before the Alexanders, the Polks, the Brevards, and the 
other heroes of Mecklenburg had put on the toga of man- 
hood, fully recognized by the predominance of testimony. 
North Carolina is cautious, deliberative and slow, and Zeb 
Vance, in that speech to the Army of North ern Virginia, 
which General Lee declared was worth fifty thousand men 
to the Confederate service, hit the nail S(]uarely on the head 



46 grandfather's tales. 

when lie said the people of Xorth Carolina were a race of 
"Tar Heels," and stuck when thej put their heels down. 
Strange, too, because she has two sisters, on the south of 
us and north of ns, one full of mercur}^, and jumps to a con- 
clusion at the first flash ; and the other, full of pompous 
stateliness and avarice of fame, folds her robes of dignity 
about her and says, "Stand back, we are better than 
tliou." 

The sons of the State are now putting .Vlamance in its 
true and rightfid position as a beacon light in the primal 
stomis of that great event in the world's history that 
taught mankind the great lesson in free government and 
made the American mountaineer a marvel in the world's 
history. All honor to W. L. Saunders, the stout-hearted 
North (^irolinian. Blessed be his memory. A worthy 
son of a worthy and reverend father. Rev. Joseph H. 
Saunders. 

The Iiegulators were patriotic. They resisted oppres- 
sion of British office-holders. They were outraged and 
oppressed by unlawful taxations, by the oppressor's scorn 
and the ]u-oud man's contumely. They protested again and 
again aii'ainst these infamous acts of the British Govern- 
ment. At last, after their patience was exhausted, they 
resorted to force, and Tryon's soldiers overcame them on 
the Idoody field of Alamance, subdued them in battle with 
deatli on both sides, hung them after a drum-head trial, 
and executed the prisoners without mercy. Tlieir griev- 
ances Mere afterward acknowledged by Tryon, the "Wolf 
of Xortli C^arolina," as the Indians designated him, and his 
successor, Governor Martin. And now, the victims of this 
flagrant 0])pression by the British Government cry from 
the ground for justice from their countrymen who sprang 
from the seed their brave hearts had planted. Let their 
coimtrvmen, who have reaped the fruits of their heroism 
and sufferings, make requital by justice and blessings, 
late but timely, on their long misrepresented memories. 

The IJattlc of Alamance, on the soil of jSTorth Carolina, 



THE TUSCARORA MASSACRE. 47 

on the 1.6th of May, 1771, was the reveille dnim-beat of 
the Revolution, and the blood then shed, on the open bat- 
tle-field and on the scaffold, was the blood of the martyrs of 
liberty ; the g-erm-seed of Mecklenburg's Declaration, of the 
patriotic protest of old St. Paul's at Edenton, of the 
victorious fight at Moore's Creek, and of Guilford and 
Yorktowu. 



THE TUSCARORA MASSACRE. 
'Man's inhumanity to man." 

The saddest event in our history is the Indian massacre 
by the Tuscarora Tribe of Indians in 1711. 

It was the most numerous of the Indian tribes in the 
colony at that time. They dominated the other smaller 
tribes, and were known for their ferocity and cruelty. 

They had long shown unfriendliness to the white set- 
tlers, and with characteristic secretiveness were maturing 
their plans for an indiscriminate slaughter of all the col- 
onists, without regard to age, sex or condition. Their 
end and aim was an utter extinction of the white settlers. 

On the night of the agreement of the Tuscarora tribe, 
there was a general uprising, and the Indians massacred 
one hundred and thirty men, women and children, with 
such inlmman 1)arliarities that humanity shudders at the 
recital. 

The ]i()]inlatiou of tlie colony at this time did not prob- 
ably exceed two tliousand. There had been occasional 
Indian disturbances between the white settlers and the 
Indians. They were of a local character, but they were 
feeders of the general disturbance whicli resulted in the 
atrocious massacre of 1711, on the night of the 22d of 
September. 

It was a vvell-lai<l scheme of the cruel Tuscaroras, in 



48 grandfather's tales. 

whicli they had enlisted the smaller tribes then dwelling 
in the colony — the Meherrins, the Corees, the Matamus- 
keets, and others. The unsettled condition of public af- 
fairs favored them. The contest then raging between the 
Church of England men and the Quakers for equal rights 
in the government of the Province, represented by Gary and 
Glover, the opj)osing claimants of the Governor's office, 
and the angry feelings in wliich the contest was producing 
its results of war and bloodshed and quasi war, invited 
the Indians to the most cruel Indian massacre that sad- 
dens our annals. 

In one night, in the most perfect secrecy, with entire 
accord, the Indians rose as one man on the night of Septem- 
ber 22, 1711, and with inhuman desperation fell upon the 
sleeping and defenceless population and slew them with 
■fiendish torture, at which our blood is curdled by the reci- 
tal. Old men gray with age had their heads smashed 
in and their white hairs bespattered with blood ; helpless 
infancy, with its pitiful cry for mercy, was craelly mur- 
dered, and women in the presence of their children were 
tortured and cruelly murdered. 

The blow was a terrible one to the scattered inhabi- 
tants of the Albemarle settlements. It suspended for a 
time the heart-burnings of intestine strife. Quaker and 
Cavalier stood side by side in the presence of a common 
danger, united by the ties of a common brotherhood. 

Such was the dread scene of the 22d of September, 
1711. 

A promising colony of Swiss under De Graffenreid, of 
Berne, Switzerland, had made a settlement in 'New Bern, 
and were industriously engaged in laying off lands in the 
vicinity. Lawson, the Surveyor-General of the colony, 
accompanied by De Graffenreid and attendants, were on 
a surveying expedition to locate tlie lands. While en- 
gaged in this peaceful business, they were attacked by a 
party of Indians and captured. At an Indian council they 
were sentenced to death, which order was inflicted upon 
Lawsou witli u'reat torture, and De Graffenreid was lib- 



HUGUENOT BLOOD IN NORTH CAROLINA. 49 

erated because lie was supposed to be high in authority 
and that his death would be avenged. 

Meanwhile messengers were dispatched to Virginia and 
South Carolina for assistance. Governor Spotswood, of 
Virginia, effected a treaty of peace with the Tuscaroras. 
Gen. James Moore, of South Carolina, came over with a 
body of troops, attacked the Indians with great bravery 
at Fort BaruAvell, near New Bern, with great slaughter, 
and drove them from the Province. They fled from the 
colony of i^orth Carolina and joined the Five Nations of 
the Iroquois Tribe in New York, forming what has been 
called the Six Nations in New York, where a remnant of 
them still live. 

The smaller tribes who were led by the fierce Tuscaroras 
were left undisturbed. 



THE HUGUENOT BLOOD IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. 

— Jiil'ms Ccvsar. 

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes is one of the 
most memorable events in French history, and is a most 
sigiiifieant illustration of the mercurial disposition of the 
French people. The French people have more individu- 
ality than any people that have ever lived upon earth, and 
their individuality finds expression most frequently in 
scenes of revolution, violence and bloodshed. They are 
bright, vivacious, full of enterprise, energy and forecast, 
prone to take offence, sudden and quick in quarrel, and dar- 
ing death at the cannon's mouth. They have given to 
history its greatest military heroes, its greatest statesmen, 
its greatest philosophers, its greatest writers, its greatest 
poets, and its greatest orators. 

The first Napoleon said to one of his great Marshals who 
had followed him in his exile, and who stood by him in the 

4 



50 grandfather's tales. 

supreme hour of deatli: "Bertrand, there have been but 
three great captains, Csesar, Alexander and myself." The 
world has furnished no greater warrior than JSTapoleon, no 
greater scientist than Cuvier, no greater poet than Bos- 
suet, no greater philosopher than Fenelon^'no greater 
novelist than Hugo, no greater dramatis^ save Shake- 
speare, than Moliere ; and France has made more history, 
both in its social and tragic features, than am" other na- 
tion on earth. 

They must have derived their fighting blood froui Cain, 
their sagacious blood from Esau, their military blood and 
Avise strategy from Joshua, their astronimic blood from 
Job, and their wisdom from Solomon. 

This great blood, so compounded and intermingled, was 
cast upon the shores of Albomai-le as a flotsam after the 
''Ticvocation of the Edict of N"antes." When that cruel 
and bloody persecution drove from France the best of its 
population, its most skilled artisans, the most cultured of 
its population, and enriched other lands with the best blood 
of France, the Albemarle country was newly settled and 
the Lords Proprietors invited, by liberal gifts and privi- 
leges, immigrants from all tlio world to come to the new- 
found land of Albemarle, subdue its forests and reduce 
to cultivation its rich "bottom lands." 

Five brothers. Huguenots, skilled artisans, workers in 
metals, fabrics and leather, saw the invitation of the Eng- 
lish ]-*roprietors and determined to cast their lots in Amer- 
ica. They were religious devotees, and left the land of 
their birth for freedom of conscience and freedom to wor- 
ship God in obedience to its dictates. They had suffered 
persecution, and in the choice of recantation, destruc- 
tion or exile, they chose the last. 

In the latter years of the seventeenth century, about 
1G80, as the family tradition has handed down to us, five 
Hugiienot brothers sailed from France to seek an asylum 
from persecution in the wild lands of America. They 
crossed the ocean in safety, and in seeking an entrance 
into Carolina's inland broad waters, they encountered the 



HUGENOT BLOOD IN NORTH CAROLINA. 5 1 

storm-swept shoals of Hatteras, that octopus of the sea, 
whose appetite for suffering and death has never been 
sated, and there they were wrecked and cast upon its then 
inhospitable shores, with nothing saved but life. 

Soon after, they explored the lands on the headwaters 
of Albemarle Sound and settled there. They settled in the 
counties adjacent to it. 

John located in Tyrrell and engaged in the seafaring 
trade to Boston, and married in Boston. Levi settled in 
Pasquotank County, owned the land on which Elizabeth 
City now stands, and is supposed to have engaged in 
commercial pursuits. Thomas settled in Perquimans and 
became a farmer. Job settled in lower Chowan and became 
a successful farmer and worker in leather, which had 
been his business in his native home in France. What 
became of tlie other brother is not known, but it is said in 
the old family traditions that he was drowned in Tennes- 
see many years after. 

These brothers were the germ-seed and origin of the 
numerous family of Creecys scattered over the counties 
contiguous to Albemarle Sound. 



52 grandfather's tales. 

the scotch-irish element in our history 

We tread upon tlie ashes of heroes, patriots and statesmen. 

The niiirration of races is one of the most interesting 
studies of liistoiy. Tt is one of the most potent influences 
in the com])licatod machinery of divine providence in pre- 
venting the decadence of tlie liiiman race by the infusion 
of new blood, and thus preserving the unity of the race and 
its virile purity and strength. 

ISTorth Carolina, thougli now tlie most homogeneous pop- 
ulation of all the States, was originally a composite race, 
derived principally from the ancestral English stock, the 
Huguenot refugees, and the Scotch-Irish stock, impelled 
by the migratory instinct and by the unrest of the love of 
liberty, and the search for newer fields of enterprise. 

Perhaps the most distinctive and enterprising element 
of our population was the Scotch-Irish element. It was 
the outgrowth of a Scotch colony wlio migrated from their 
parent hive and settled at first in the north of Ireland, 
where they became identified with the Celtic race by inter- 
marriage and the adoption of their habits and customs. 
They were a combination of the warm blood of Ireland 
with the steadiness and tenacity of the Scot(jli Covenanter. 
It combined Irish wit, vivacity and impulse with Scotch 
sobriety and earnestness — a rare combination of contradic- 
tory qualities, resulting in wondrous alchemy. 

Tliis was a grand element in our population. The 
Irish element caused their migration to tlie new land be- 
yond the sea, where broader fields, with less restraints of 
the rigid rule of government, invited them. 

About the middle of the seventeenth century they land- 
ed upon the shores of Pennsylvania and there abided for 
permanent settlement; but the staid character of the Qua- 
ker population did not suit their progressive tempera- 
ment and they sought a home in Carolina where lived the 
"freeest of the free," where the Irish blood could find vent 



THE SCOTCH- IRISH ELEMENT IN OUR HISTORY. 53 

for its hilarity and its Scotch stick and stubbornness could 
find a congenial home. 

From Pennsylvania there canie a stream of Scotch-Irish, 
and planted themselves in the sections of Alamance, Meck- 
lenburg, and tlie adjacent counties, planted there by a wise 
Providence to await the unfolding of a great drama in 
wliich they were to bear a mighty part. 

They brouglit with them their preachers and their 
school-masters, their creeds and their confessions ; made the 
mountain section the garden of jST orth Carolina, produced 
a stalwart popnlation that gave us our greatest leaders in 
the crisis of our struggle for independence, and made 
their homes the pride of our State. 

They gave us the martyrs of Alamance, whose patriotic 
blood was the germ-seed of the Revolution. They gave 
us Mecklenburg's immortal Declaration of Indepe^ndence, 
Avhose primal bugle note of freedom yet sounds in the grate- 
ful ears of the patriotic sons of our loved mother State. 
They gave us our beloved Vance, whose Irish nature found 
expression in his cb arming flow of wit and humor, and 
whose Scotch blood found expression in his heroic fortitude 
under suffering and his sturdy manhood under all the 
vicissitudes of his great, eventful life — a rare combination 
of two strains of blood that showed even in his broad 
religion. He was Father Ryan, the poet-priest, in the 
jollity of his Irish character, and John Knox, the sturdy 
Presbyterian, in his Scotch Idood — an even-balanced mon- 
ument of sturdiness and jollity. They gave us the Alex- 
anders, the Brevards, the Polks, the Grahams, and others, 
whose blessed memories are an inspiration of patriotism, 
and they are giving us to-day a Queen City in the nest of 
the hornets of the Revolution, that will be the bright light 
of our whole country when ISTcw York and Boston and 
(Tiicago liave become, like Persepolis and Palmyra, the 
lmri('(| cities of the plain. 



54 grandfather's tales. 



TOM BROWN'S DOG TILDEN. 

Who kicks 
My dog. 
He has got nie to lick. 

— Burdette. 

Tom Bkowx was a Baptist preacher of Gates County. 
He was a master of the pulpit and made the gospel ring 
from the sacred desk. He was fond of field sports, and 
had a setter dog. The dog was named ^'Tilden," after 
the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 1876. 
Tilden was given to him when a puppy by one of his 
brethren who lived in a distant part of his pastoral care. 
As a puppy Tilden showed remarkable sagacity. He was 
vigilant, affectionate and docile, and his bird instinct was 
apparent before his yelp was fully developed. He never 
forgot a friend or a foe, and his friends accumulated faster 
than his foes, for his disposition was most lovable. Before 
his molar teeth were grown he had learned all the language 
of dog pantomime, and the children, whose love he had 
won, were constantly learning him some new tricks. He 
would stand up on his hinder legs, try to stand on his head 
when bidden by a pantomimic waggle of the head, would 
bark before eating, with solemn gravity, and knew the 
names of his owner and of all the children. He loved 
field sports, and when brotlier Brown, who was a Nimrod 
indeed, forgot his gun and field sports, Tilden would pull 
at his trousers' legs until he made him get his gim, and 
Tilden would signify his approval and happiness by wild 
antics and capers. 

Tilden grew to dog juanhood and grew in wisdom every 
day. His learning in dogology was marvelous. He knew 
all the neighbors by face and name, would carry to any 
one of tliem whose name was called to him a message in 
writing in his mouth, and would w^ait for an answer. He 
would go to the post-office and bring the mail, and was 
never happier than when a party of sportsmen came with 



TOM brown's dog TILDEN. 55 

their guns to have a field-day with Tilden's owner. He 
was a perfect hunter, knew the haunts of birds, and would 
stay by a Bob White all day long, and would have died 
by him if the hunters did not come. 

Tilden became a great pet in the community of upper 
Gates County, and they were a community who delighted 
in dog and gun. All of them loved him, and would send 
delicacies for Tilden to brother Brown's. His attain- 
ments in dog pantomime were a marvel of sagacity, and 
the tales that brother Brown told of him spread far and 
wide. At a Gates Court the tale was told to us. We 
thought it wonderful beyond parallel. When we got home 
we told the story of dog Tilden to our friends and neigh- 
bors, but they did not believe it, and some, bolder than the 
rest, intimated that brother Brown had formed a combi- 
nation to manufacture a sensational story to interest and 
fool the public. It w^ounded our pride and damaged our 
character for truth, which we had always treasured as 
one of the purest jewels in our casket. So, when we 
next went to Gatesville, we met brother Brown, and said 
to him, said we, ^'Brother Brown, sir, you are a preacher, 
and under bonds to speak the truth, and we, all our life, 
have been striving to build up a character for truth. We 
must stop this talk about Tilden, or we will be put down 
as two of the biggest liars in North Carolina; and if it 
comes to that, we had better do as Judas Iscariot did." 
He then commenced sniffling his nose and wiping his 
weeping eyes, and said: "Tilden, poor, dear old Tilden, 
is dead." And thereby hangs a sad recital. We tell the 
tale as Tom Brown told it to us. 

One day Tilden did not eat. His appetite failed more 
and more. He grew worse. His usual sleeping place was 
a comfortable dog-house in the yard. His eye grew dim, 
and his natural sjirightliness left him. The Brown house- 
hold were sad. Tom took him in his bed-room at night, 
made a comfortable rug bed for him on the floor, and he 
M^as watched over with the tenderest care. He lost flesh. 
Sometimes his lustreless eve would follow the children 



56 grandfathp:r's tales. 

around the room. He seldom left his bed. He grew 
worse and worse. The neighbors would come in to en- 
quire after Tilden. Tilden's time had come. Tom Brown 
put his hand over his heart and it was still. There was 
no pulsation. The children came around and called him, 
"Tilden, Tilden, poor Tilden !" but he gave no sign of 
life. Tom and his family then gave way to grief. Tom 
sent off for John Gatling, one of the neighbors. He came 
quickly. Tom met John at the door and told him Tilden 
was dead. John came in, felt of him and said there was 
no sign of life. After exauiining him over again, John 
said to Tom (they were brother hunters), "Tom, if he is 
dead, you get your gun and click the trigger by his ear, and 
he will give sign of life if he is not dead." Tom took a 
gun from a corner where he had several and clicked the 
trigger over his ear. He gave no sign. And then there 
"was one uuiversal outburst of grief. John turned to Tom 
and said, "Tom, tliat wer'nt the gun you use when you 
hunt with Tilden." Tom then went back and brought the 
gun that he commonly used, and stooping down over Til- 
den he cracked the trigger near his ear. The dear old fellow 
slowly o]")ened his dying eyes, feebly wagged his tail, then 
closed them forever — Tilden was dead. 



TEACH AND POTTER, CAROLINA'S OUTLAWS. 57 



TEACH AND POTTER, CAROLl NA'S OUTLAWS. 

■■ 'T i.s true, 't is pity. 
And pity "t is. 't is true." 

— Maebe'h. 

IS^OKTir Caeolixa is not a soil that produces great and 
good men alone. It produces good and bad men, but the 
good and patriotic men greatly predominate. We should 
be false to our record if we chronicled the good alone. 
We are all attracted by good men and are led by their deeds 
in the paths of virtue. We are warned by bad men and 
generally taught by their lives that the paths of lawless 
vice lead to dishonored graves. So, on the other hand, 
the paths of virtue lead to honor in life, peace and happi- 
ness at its close and perpetual blessedness in tliat eternal 
life to which we are all journeying. 

The saying of the great poet that the evil which men 
do lives after them and the good is oft interred with them, 
is a poetic fiction with a modicum of truth. The good and 
the evil of our lives live after us and serve as beacons and 
buoys to warn and to guide us. No word or action dies 
in our lives, but lives on as still or clamorous monitors in 
the pilgrimage of life. 

In turning over in our memory, in searching for the list 
of conspicuous bad men who have left their baleful influ- 
ence upon our annals, we are gratified that we are unable 
to find but two men to hold up as beacons of warning to 
our countrymen. We do not regret their living, although 
the world is not the better for their having lived in it. 
They are the dark foils that make virtue more lustrous, 
and make us more grateful for our heritage of the great 
and good names that shine on every page of our blessed 
history. 

Who were these two men, so conspicuous by their rarity ? 
One lived in colonial days and was a sea pirate. His life 
was tlia": of a desperado and his death was by violence in 
mortal combat, an outlaw, a refugee from justice, an 



58 grandfather's tales. 

Ishmaelite indeed, who carried his life in his hand, which 
was lifted ag'ainst mankind. His name was Edward 
Teach (Blackboard ), and he made the waters of Albe- 
marle Sound and its tributaries his rendezvous and place 
of retreat for security from his enemies. Teach lived in 
the early years of the eighteenth century. He was not a 
native of North Carolina. He was born in Bristol, Eng- 
land. He entered on his career of piracy in 1716. Up to 
that time for several years he had been a private sailor. 
He was daring and adventurous, and a famous pirate, 
named Kornagold, put him in command of a sloop which 
he had captured. Teach sailed for the American coast, 
making many captures on the way, which he plundered. 
From that time he continued his piratical outrages along 
the Carolina, Virginia and Atlantic coast, and made the 
Carolina sounds his home. 

Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, offered a reward of 
one hundred pounds for his capture. 

At length, hearing that he was in Pamlico Sound, 
near Ocracoke Inlet, on the 17th of November, Governor 
S])otswood dispatched Lieutenant Maynard, of the British 
Navy, from James Kiver in Virginia to search for Teach 
and capture him. On the 31st he came in sight of the 
pirate at Ocracoke Inlet. Blackbeard had heard of his 
coming, and when he saw him he prepared for a desperate 
resistance. Teach had seventeen des])eratc men under 
him. Maynard had more than thirty. Tlie engagement 
was desperate. By a feint, Maynard's men were sent be- 
low and Teach was made to believe that Maynard declined 
the fight and was about to surrender. When Teach saw 
this, he sailed to Maynard's sliip to take possession of her. 
As soon as he boarded, Maynard ordered his men on 
deck, and then it was a hand-to-hand fight, Maynard and 
Teach heading it with sabres. Teach was mortally 
wounded after he had wounded thirty of Maynard's men. 
After Maynard had captured Teach's sloop, he cut off his 
head, fastened it to his bowsprit and sailed up to Bath 
in Beaufort County, then Hyde. 



TEACH AND POTTER, CAROLINA'S OUTLAWS. 59 

The other "'black shee]>" in North Carolina's history was 
Bob Potter, who lived a century after Teach. He was a 
native of Virginia, and avo first hear of him in the town of 
Halifax, where he became a notorious, brawling politician, 
antagonized J. R. J. Daniel, and became notorious for his 
street brawls and personal conflicts with that celebrated 
public man. They both had a following of friends. Pot- 
ter was an attractive and brave man, and seemed to have 
the public sympathy. He was a ready writer, and in 
the printed controversies Potter's vocabulary was scathing 
and terrible. Bob brought over from Virginia his brother 
Hal, who was armed and not averse to a fight of any kind. 
In a street fight in Halifax, in which weapons were used on 
both sides, Hal came out of it with fifteen buckshot in 
his g]"oin. 

This warfare was kept up for several years, when 
Daniel went to Louisiana and Potter settled in Granville 
County. Potter was a lawyer by profession, and a mag- 
netic, ambitious and aggressive man. He had not been 
long in Granville before he was nominated for Congress 
and elected. Meanwhile, he had married a girl in Gran- 
ville of prominent family connection. He went to Congress, 
where he passed a gay and voluptuous life and represented 
himself to be an unmarried man ; and Governor Branch, 
who was his colleague in Congress, warned his young fe- 
male friends against him. He returned home after the 
adjournment of Congress, brought criminal charges against 
his wife that were without foundation, committed the 
crime of mayhem upon two innocent men, who were his 
wife's relatives, and one of them an old man. ISTotwith- 
standing this flagrant outrage, he announced himself a 
candidate for the Legislature from the county of Gran- 
ville and was elected. He went to Raleigh at the meeting 
of the Legislature, and was expelled from that body for 
the infamous crime of mayhem which he had committed 
in Granville. 

Soon after his expulsion from the Legislature, he left for 
Texas, then a Mexican province. We have heard that he 



6o grandfather's tales. 

wont on foot, arniod with a sliot-iiim and follnwo(l l>y two 
bloodhonnds. 

In Texas, Avhere lie settled, ho led a vagrant and law- 
less life, and was soon involved in brawls with his neigh- 
bors. In one of these he was overpo^\■ered by his foes 
and sought safety in flight, after killing one of his antag- 
onists. He was hotly and closely pursued, and to escape 
from his pursuers he plunged into a lake and dived under 
the water for safety. When he came to the surface he was 
fired upon from the shore and his head riddled with bul- 
lets. Teach and Potter both came to violent deaths — fit 
termination of lives of crime aii<l violence. 



OLD-TIME HAZING AT THE UNIVERSITY. 6 1 

OLD-TIME HAZING AT THE UNIVERSITY. 
O, the boys ; the boys. 

Hazikg- is a college custom as old as the hills. Seventy 
years ago it was known as the ceremony of "Admission to 
the Ugly Clnb.'' In its origin it was a useful institution. 
It broke up the mauvais lionte (so-called) which beset a 
green student, and made him luiserable under the appre- 
hension of doing something or doing the impolite thing. 
In process of time it developed into the modern "hazing/' 
which has growm into such proportions as to call forth the 
discipline- of the colleges, and has sometimes found its 
way into our law courts. Please tell us what "hazing" 
means, and what is its derivation ( 

The Ugly Club origin of hazing was a social institution 
of the University of jSTorth Carolina seventy years ago. 
I'l was presided over by the acknowdedged ugliest member 
of ihe club, and was intended as a benevolent institution, 
to be used as an antidote for the disease of nostalgia 
(home-sickness), which was epidemic with freshmen. It 
counteracted the malady of longing for home, and intro- 
duced the new-comer to a home and familiar circle. 
! In 1S31, we entered the Freshman class of the Univer- 
I sity, and for several days we suffered intolerably from the 
\ homing feeling. One day, Lumbus Battle, the only student 
and classmate with whom we had formed an intimate 
friendship, asked us if we had joined the "Ugly Club." We 
told him no, and that we had never heard of it. He then per- 
suaded us to join, and told us that he had joined, and that 
Mr. John Gray Bynum, who was President of the Club, 
had told him to invite us to join them. We told Lumbus 
M-e would join if he would go with us. The night of the 
meeting came. The session was held in a room in the 
upper story of the South Building. At the appointed 
time, Lumbus and I went to the hall. Lumbus gave 
four raps at the outer door, and suggested that we needn't 
be scared. The door was opened by the ugliest specimen of 



62 grandfather's tales. 

a man we had ever seen, and dressed in the most uncouth 
style. He had on his liead something like the old dunce 
cap of the public schools, except that it had horns to it. 
His cheeks and eyebrows were blacked with grease and 
soot. His sleeves were rolled up, and he looked like our 
ideal of the mythological ^Vulcan. He looked at us with 
one eye closed, and invited us in with his best bow. We 
went in, the President preceding us. Lumbus joined the 
brethren and put on his cap. President Bynum then 
marched around the room, mumbling some cabalistic 
words, while we stood alone in the middle of the hall, feel- 
ing very much like a fool. 

Bynum came to us after his mimamery and, in solemn 
manner, asked us if we could dance. We told him, "I^ot 
much." He said, "How much ?" We told him timidly 
that wc had danced some at "corn shuckings," and some 
little at girls' parties. He then pranced around us with 
a sort of "limber leg double shuffle," and asked us to join 
him. He then hummed "Sugar in the Gourd," and kept 
time to it with his feet. He then asked if we could sing. 
We said "jSTot much." He asked again, "How much ?" 
and we told him we could sing "Up in the Morning Early" 
and "Three Blind Mice." But he couldn't get us to 
sing. Like poor Macbeth, the song "stuck in our throat." 

Bynum then asked us, "Could we wrastle?" We told 
him, "Yes, some." ISTo sooner was the word out of our 
throat than he pitched in and gi*appled us. The old 
war-horse Avas now roused in us. We caught him round 
the middle, and we had it round and round the room, the 
members of the club shouting, slapping hands and whoop- 
ing, "Creecy, Oreecy !" Some one cried out, "Tie old 
snake" on him. Old Gray Bynum took the hint, tied the 
"old snake" lock round our legs, and before we could say 
"Jack Pobinson," we were flat of our back on the floor, 
and "Old Gray" on top of us. "Gray" had us down, but 
his ton2;ue was out. After a few long breaths, "Gray," 
still holding us down, said, "What mout be your name ?" 
"Dick," said we. He then asked us our other name. 



OLD-TIME HAZING AT THR UNIVERSITY. 63 

"Creecy," said we. "Well, it's a funny name; you are 
greasy by name, and I'll make you greasy by favor," and, 
calling for a pot of grease and soot, he dabbed our cheeks 
with it. We then got up, and he introduced us to each 
one of the brethren, and then we were at home and all of 
the sheepishness was gone out of us. 

Then Gray took the President's chair, made an address 
full of his old-time wit and humor, and then pronounced 
the meeting adjourned. He was our friend ever after, 
until his graduation, and when that famous controversy 
arose between the Di. and Phi. Societies, which for awhile 
threatened conflict, we were a Bynum luan. 

Liimbus and 1 slept under the same blanket that night. 
He was very happy, and during the night he said : "Dick, 
if old Gray hadn't tied ^old snake' on you, you'd have had 
him doA'vU in a few more rounds. You had his tongue out 
when he thro wed you." 



64 grandfather's tai.es. 



THE OLD-TIME QUAKER. 
How dost thou do ? 

TuE Quaker element iu our population was prominent 
in the early settlement of Eastern Carolina, in the Colonial 
period, in the period of the devolution, and subsequent 
thereto up to the half of the nineteenth century, when 
negro slavery had much to do with the large Quaker emi- 
gration from North Carolina to Indiana and Illinois, 
and the gregarious instinct of sectarian brotherhood swelled 
the tide of migration to other States^ until a genuine old- 
time Quaker is now almost an ethnological curiosity. Bel- 
videre, in Perquimans Comity, and some scattered settle- 
ments m iSiorthampton County, alone remain as represent- 
atives of a sturdy race that made their distinctive impress 
upon the character of Eastern Carolina, and even their 
peculiar dress and phraseology have almost disappeared. 

A sturdy and a stalwart race were the old-time Quakers ; 
conservative, plain, direct in purpose as in language, 
averse to worldly vanities, poised, prudent, undaunted be- 
fore authority, shrewd in business transactions, thrifty in 
business, in all things a Quaker. But the old-time Quaker 
has ])assed away, and the "old broad-brim" and the old 
"Quaker coat" are not seen on our streets and highways. 
But their memory is green. 

The last old-time Quaker in Elizabeth City was friend 
Miles White, a wealthy old citizen, who, at his death in 
Baltimore about the year 1855, was worth over a million of 
dollars. 

Miles White started in life as a poor one-horse farmer 
in the coimty of Perquimans. In early life he sometimes 
brought a load of pine wood or some product to town. He 
was industrious. W. C. Brooks, of Gates County, father 
of George W. Brooks, took notice of his industry and per- 
severing ways, and proposed to him a mercantile co-part- 
nership. It was accepted by White, and they opened a 
drv uoods store on Koad street, not far from the old Tis- 



THE OLD-TIME QUAKER. 65 

dale Building, midway between the Relf House (now 
Albemarle) and Leather Hill. They conducted the busi- 
ness for several years and prospered until the business 
was dissolved by mutual consent. 

Having accumulated money by merchandise, White 
next entered upon a general business, which he conducted 
with such success that he became a wealthy man of the 
town. Everything that he touched prospered. But his 
success never altered the simplicity and geniality of his 
social life. His temper and disposition was sunny and 
unruffled, and he became very popular with all classes 
save those he had driven a hard bargain with. Persons 
sometimes complained of his shrewd ways of business, but 
his honesty w^as never impeached but once, when he had 
overreached a man of the town, who was also noted for 
liis shrewd business ways, and was also noted for his iras- 
cibility, llie excited townsman grew hissing hot in the 
coHai", and began to denounce Miles as a wretch, a dishon- 
est man, who loved money better than his God. He abused 
Miles in the most opprobrious terms of the langaiage. 
Miles ke])t his temper and his tongue, and looked steadily 
into tlie eyes of the irate banker, and when he stopped his 
abuse from pure exhaustion, he replied with the utmost 
composure — "John, ditto." The scene was so ludicrous, 
and the reply of the old (Quaker was so terse and compre- 
hensive, and the contrast so great, that both of them broke 
into laughter and parted good friends. 

Miles White never laughed, but often smiled, chuckled 
at any amusing incident, and enjoyed a modest joke won- 
derfully. In the latter years of his residence in the town, 
he divided his time between Elizabeth City and Baltimore, 
and was principally engaged in purchasing crops of corn. 
During this time our acquaintance was somewhat inti- 
mate, and we sometimes joined him of an evening in rid- 
ing in different parts of the county, looking after his pur- 
chases of corn, and arranging for its shipment to markets 
in diffeT'cnt parts of the coimtry. These trips were very 
pleasant t/O us, and his conversation was instructive and 



66 grandfather's tales. 

entertaining. On one of these occasions he amused us 
with an account of a business transaction he liad with 
Mordecai Morris, a brotlier Quaker of the straightest sect. 
Mordecai was a wealthy man, a large farmer, shrewd on 
a bargain, and as sharp in trade as Miles. We knew that 
Miles wanted to buy Mordecai's crop of corn on Dry 
Eidge. He had made him what he thought was a liberal 
offer for it. Mordecai stood off to strain Miles up to a 
little adi^ance on his offer. He had often complained to 
us of the dilatory tactics of Mordecai. On a Saturday 
evening, he told us that he was going down to spend the 
Sabbath with Mordecai, and if he did not take his offer 
for his corn he would stop. After a long chaffer over the 
bargain on Saturday night, the two stiff" and wealthy 
"broad-brims," went to meeting on Sabbath day at the 
old "meeting-house" near Simon's Creek. The spirit 
didn't move much that day, and Mordecai fell into a com- 
fortable snooze. In the sepulchral silence of the devo- 
tions, tlie devil, who was "walking up and down upon the 
earth" looking for a job, came up and whispered into 
Mordecai's ear as he slept, and the thought of the com 
trade being uppermost, he burst out, as he slept, and said : 
"Miles, if thou wilt furnish the bags and bag strings, the 
corn is thine." This incident amused Miles greatly, but 
ho never jested about sacred things. 



THOMAS HART BENTON. 67 

THOMAS HART BENTON. 
Render unto Cassar the things that are Caesar's. 

No NATivE-BOEN Carolinian has been truer to his nativ- 
ity than the illustrious United States Senator from Mis- 
souri. His steps had wandered far from home, but his 
heart always turned in atl'ection to the "Haw Fields" of 
Orange County, North Carolina. He loved the old State 
with filial devotion, always treasured her sacred history 
with veneration, and her sons with honor, and emptied the 
cornucopia of his own well-earned laurels into her loving 
lap. 

Nat. j\Iacon was the Gamaliel of his politics. He learned 
his lessons of sturdy patriotism at his feet, not only for his 
]3ersonal admiration of the virtues of that firm "old Ro- 
man," but because he was a son and representative of 
"his native State." 

To him belongs the honor of first giving to North Caro- 
lina's Guilford Battle Ground the just honor of being the 
great pivotal battle of the Revolution, and the distinction 
of making Yorktown the close of the struggle for indepen- 
dence. He first presented to our eyes the first true story of 
Guilford, and made us prouder of the heroes who obeyed 
the orders of their commander and fell back in order, after 
accomplishing his foreformed purpose. 

The liistory of Thomas Hart Benton is full of the les- 
sons of energy, industry, will force and heroic determi- 
nation. 

In the contests of life which were assigned to him, his 
back was never turned on friend or foe, and all who met 
him as friend or foeman, recognized a j^reat gladiator in 
the arena. He lived in heroic times. There were "giants 
in those days," and he was one of them. He was a truly 
ijreat man ; fjreat in heroic manhood, in sturdv friendship, 
in profound acquirements, in personal bravery, in moral 
bravery, and in the magnificent achievements of genius 
and industry. 



68 grandfathkr's tales. 

in the inuiiy heroic events of the last century of our 
civil life, there is none more so than the history of the 
"Expunging Resolutions," of which Benton was the*au- 
thor. "Solitary and alone," against opposition such as 
was never encountered before, he snatched victory from 
defeat, humbled the Senate of the United States, tri- 
umphed over Calhoun, Clay, Webster, Mangum and Wat- 
kins Leigh, and made the Secretary, in the presence of the 
Senate, draw black lines around and across their resolu- 
tions of condemnation of President Andrew Jackson for 
his removal of the government deposits from the United 
States Bank four years before. There has been no in- 
stance of such will force and determination in the parlia- 
mentary history of the world. 

Thomas H. Benton was born in Orange County, jSTorth 
Carolina, near Hillsboro, and emigrated to Tennessee in 
the last years of the last century. He practised law in 
that State for several years, and emigrated thence to the 
State of Missouri, where he achieved his distinction and 
represented Missouri in the Senate of the United States 
for thirty consecutive years, and while in the Senate was 
without a superior. 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 69 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDE- 
PENDENCE. 

TiiEKE are few events in our National history more 
conclusively established bv circumstantial testimony 
than the Declaration of Independence by the patriots 
of the county of Mecklenburg, on the 20th of 
May, 1775. There is no event in the history of 
JSTortli Carolina of which her people are prouder, 
or wliich they cherish with more filial loyalty. There 
is no event in her history of which they are more 
jealous, or that they defend with more persistence or more 
stubbornness. It is not the earliest germ-seed of the 
RevoJution. John Ashe, in the Stamp Party of Wilming- 
ton, defied the authority of Great Britain ten years before 
with his drawn sword. John Harvey defied its authority 
before the Mecklenburg Declaration by assuming the au- 
thority of the Governor and convoking a Revolutionary 
Asseml)ly. These acts were heroic. But Mecklenburg's 
Declaration is more conspicuous because it has l)een more 
assailed and more defended. But no one now denies its 
authenticity, but an idiot or an enemy. 

It was a great event in our history American blood 
had been shed at Lexington and Concord. There was 
a meeting of citizens of a mountain county in jSTorth Caro- 
lina, principally peopled by that heroic Scotch-Irish race 
that has always heen foremost in the struggles of history, 
in the hazards of war and the enterprises of peace — a race 
that has never turned its back on friend or foe, and that 
now, in time of peace, is doing more for ISTorth Carolina 
til an any other in the State. These hardy mountaineers 
met in the county-town of Charlotte on the 19th day of 
May, to consider the situation of affairs between the Amer- 
ican colonies and Great Britain. The convention was ad- 
dressed by the leaders of the county, men of intelligence 
and influence. The fire of liberty spread like a contagion. 
Finally, it adjourned to meet again the next day. 

On the next day, the ever-memorable 20th of May, the 
spirit of indepenflenee burst into flame. The patriot lead- 



70 grandfather's tales. 

ers and a large concourse of people assembled, passed pa- 
triotic resolutions of independence of Great Britain, recog- 
nized the authority of Congress, organized an independent 
civil and military government, and pledged their lives, 
fortunes and sacred honor to maintain it, and sent the 
resolutions to the American Congress at Philadelphia by 
a special messenger. 

AH this was done more than a year before the Kational 
Declaration of Independence, before the public senti- 
ment of the country was ripe for independence, before 
any State had suggested independence, and at a time when 
the author of the National Declaration of Independence 
was not in favor of secession from Great Britain. 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY THE CITIZENS OF 
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 

MAY 20, 1775. 

''In conformity to an order issued by the Colonel of 
Mecklenburg County, in ISTorth Carolina, a Convention, 
vested with unlimited powers, met at Charlotte, in said 
county, on the 19th day of May, 1775, when Abraham 
Alexander was chosen Chairman, and John McKnitt Alex- 
ander Secretary. After a free and full discussion of the 
object of the Convention, it was unanimously 

"Besolved I. That whosoever, directly or indirectly, 
abetted, or in any way, form or manner, countenanced the 
unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as 
claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this country, to 
America, and to the inherent and inalienable rights of 
man. 

"IT. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg 
County, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have 
connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve 
ourselves from all allegiance to the British crown, and ab- 
jure all political connection, contract or association with 
that nation who have wantonly trampled on our rights 
and liberties, and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of 
Amovicnn patriots at Lexington. 



MECKLKNBURG DECLARATION. 7 1 

''III. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a 
free and independent people, are, and of right ought to be, 
a sovereign and self-governing association, under the con- 
trol of no power other than that of our God, and the gen- 
eral government of Congress ; to the maintenance of which 
independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual 
co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred 
honor. 

"Abraham Alexander, Chairman; J. M. Alexander, 
Secretary; Adam Alexander, Hezekiah Alexander, Ezra 
Alexander, Charles Alexander, Waitstill Avery, Ephraira 
Brevard, Plezekiah J. Balch, Richard Barry, John David- 
son, William Davidson, Henry Downs, John Elenniken, 
John Eord, William Graham, James Harris, Robert Ir- 
win, William Kennon, Matthew McClure, Neill Morri- 
son, Samuel Martin, Duncan Ochletree, John Phifer, 
Thomas Polk, Ezekiel Polk, Benjamin Patton, John 
Quearv, David Reese, Zacheus Wilson, Sr., William Wil- 
son." ^ ! 



72 GKANDFATHKK S TALES. 

THE STAMP PARTY IN WILMINGTON. 
No braver soldier ever yet drew sword. 

Through the whole history of North Carolina, the 
Cape Fear section has been the fruitful nursery of heroes, 
patriots and statesmen. Wilmington is its business cen- 
tre, and Wilmington has always been the home of men 
who Avero foremost in the race of distinction. On the 
roll of her great names the Ashes, the Waddells, the 
Swaniis, the Moores, the Hoopers, the Howes, and the 
Hills are familiar to all who feel a just pride in the good 
name of North Carolina. 

Among all these illustrious names there is no one more 
distinguished than Gen. John Ashe. He Avas a son of 
John Eaptista Ashe, the founder of this distinguished 
family in North Carolina. He had, for some years, been 
a leading member of the Colonial Assembly, and in 1762 
was chosen Speaker of that body. He soon became the 
most prominent man in the colony, and, by his position, 
was the most influential. 

He was entitled to the unique distinction of having been 
tlie harbinger of the Revolution in North Carolina, and 
probably in America, the first to resist the authority of 
Great Britain, the first to defy it by an overt act, the first 
to triumph over its officers, and the first to compel royal 
officials to sign an act of disobedience to the sovereign 
authority of England's King. 

This bold act was done in open day, in the presence of 
the Governor backed with a royal force, and has no parallel 
in the history of those trying times of the Stamp Act trou- 
bles. It was a controversy over the old question of tax- 
ation without representation that roused the resistance of 
our Revolutionary fathers ten years later, and the matter 
of contention was the same — the imposition of a tax stamp 
on paper. 

The heroic net was thus: 

Houston was the Stamp-lMaster of the British govern- 



THE STAMP PARTY IN WILMINGTON. 75 

incut, an official representative of the government who 
Avas to Jiave the custody of the stamped paper used for 
official purposes, and distribute it for use among the peo- 
ple. There was a tax on the paper, not onerous, but otfen- 
sive to the American people because it was a tax that they 
had no voice in its enactment. 

A large quantity of this paper was expected every day 
to arrive and be handed over to the Stamp Master. About 
the middle of November, 1765, Houston came to Wil- 
mington, and Colonel Ashe led the people with drums 
beating and colors flying to his lodgings, and took him 
out and carried him to the court-house, where he was 
forced to sign a resignation of his office. 

A few days later tlie stamps arrived in the sloop-of-war 
"Diligence," but as there was now no Stamp Master to re- 
ceive them, they remained boxed up on board that ship. 

Two ?Months later, two merchant vessels coming into 
port, were seized by tlie sloop-of-war Viper, commanded 
by Captain Lobb, because their papers were not stamped, 
and they were held by the war vessels off old Brunswick, 
where Governor Tryon had his residence, and where the 
s]ji]DS of war lay at anchor. Colonel Ashe, as Speaker of 
the House of Commons, had warned Governor Tryon that 
any attempt to enforce the Stamp Act would be resisted 
to death. The release of the captured vessels was at once 
demanded ; Governor Tryon, after some delay, refused to 
release them. In the meantime, Ashe and his associates 
had perfected their plans. He called out the militia of 
N&w Hanover, and, being joined by Colonel Waddell and 
the Brunswick militia, and detachments from Bladen and 
Duplin, he marched to Old Brunswick, determined to 
put an end to that act of Parliament in this Province. 
Arriving at the Governor's mansion on the evening of 
the 19th of Pebrnary, they informed Governor Tryon 
that they had come to redress their grievances, and de- 
manded to see Captain Lobb. But Captain Lobb was 
not there. A detachment then pushed on to Fort John- 
ston, at Smithville, to seize that fort and get possession 



76 grandfather's tales. 

of the caimuii ; buL Lobb was able to spike the gnus before 
the fort was taken. At noon the next day the Governor 
fnd Captain Lobb, and the King's officers, held a council 
on board tlie ship-of-war "Diligence," and Captain Lobb 
declared his determination never to surrender the captured 
merchant ships. Two hours later, Ashe and a band of Pa- 
triots boarded the "Diligence," and there, under the rojal 
flag, surrounded by the King's forces, they demanded 
that (Japtain Lobb should give up the vessels and abandon 
his purpose to enforce the Stamp Act. 

Their l)lood was up, and they were resolved to fight to 
the deatli. Their undaunted spirit brooked no opposition. 
Lolib was compelled to yield. Within three hours after 
the agreement was made in the council of King's officers 
tc hold the captured vessels, the British commander sur- 
rendered them up into the hands of tlie Patriot leaders. 

But til at was not enough. 

Ashe and the jjeoplc had come with arms in their hands 
to put an end to the Stamp Act, and the work was not yet 
finished. They now proposed to make the crown officers 
swear never to issue any stamp ]ia]ier in this colony. The 
first officer they demanded was Colonel Pennington, His 
Majesty's Comptroller of Customs. Pennington was then 
in tlio Governor's mansion, and Tryon sought to protect 
him. But tlio mansion was thoroughly surrounded by 
armed and determined men, and every avenue of escape 
Mas cut off. Pennington resigiied his office to tlie Gov- 
ernor, and surrendered himself, and took the oatli the 
Patriots dictated. And so also, Mr. Day, the Collector of 
the Port, and all the county clerks and other crown officers 
were required to swear never to issue or to use any stamp 
pai)er in the Province. 

This heroic act was revolutionary seed that sprouted 
ten years later, and for seven years produced through blood 
9Jid sufi'ering the glorious fniit of independence. 



JIMMY SUTTON AND ADMIRAL COCKBURN. 77 

JIMMY SUTTON AND ADMIRAL COCKBURN. 
Jiinmie, Oh ! Jimmie was a Rider. 

Jo(i]S' Gii.pi^'s ride is known tlirougii the length and 
breadth of the land, but Jimmy Sntton's ride is unknown. 
The difference is that Gilpin is embalmed in English verse, 
and Sutton's rests on uncertain traditions ; but the one is 
liistoric and the other poetic fanc}^ 

Jimmy Sutton lived at Sandy Point, on Albemarle 
Sound. It is a long projection into the Sound, and com- 
mands a view to the east as far as the human eye can 
reach. 

In August, 1814, Admiral Cockburn, of the British 
J^ayv, came into the inlet at Cape Henry, attacked the town 
of Hampton, and committed outrages upon its defence- 
loss population that were without parallel in the annals 
of civilized warfare. 

After desolating Hampton, he gave out word that he 
\\()uld next attack the sound and river towns of North 
Carolina. 'J'his was a feint to conceal his purpose of 
attacking Washington City, which he afterwards did, and 
in tliC Avar then raging between the United States and 
Great Britain lie added another wreath to his cro^vn of 
infamy. 

The report, wliicli reached Edenton and New Bern, 
that he intended to make these towns his objective points 
in the raging fight, together with his outrages at Hamp- 
ton, <'reated a panic in these towns that was without prece- 
de nt. . The first Mrs. Gaston, of ISTew Bern, died from 
fiiii'ht under the apprehension of his coming. The pop- 
nlntion of Edenton was wrought up to a pitch of fear 
and excitement unknown to them before. 

Col. Duncan McDonald, a young officer but a born mili- 
tary man, called out the county militia, drilled them for 
tlio fray, mounted eight smooth-bore cannon, and pre- 
pared to resist the British fleet Avhen it came into Edenton 
Bay, 



78 grandfather's tales. 

Jimmy Sutton, a squatty-built farmer Avho lived at 
Sandy Point, on Albemarle Sound, was directed by Col- 
onel McDonald to station himself on the point of projection 
of Sandy Point, and to be on watch day and night, and if 
ir the distance on Albemarle Sound he should descry the 
approach of Admiral Cockburn's British fleet, he should 
immediately report the fact at headquarters at Edenton, 
at post-haste. 

Jimmy was a kindly but eccentric man, but tirm, loyal 
and true to his country. Colonel McDonald could not 
have selected a better man for the work assigned him. For 
two days he watched at the Point for the enemy, with his 
fleetest liorse saddled and bridled in the woods near by. 

On the morning of the third day he descried a small 
object that loomed in the distance. It was not larger than 
your hand, but it grew bigger, as did Jimmy's eyes. At 
length the masts developed, and then a fleet of vessels. 
Jimmy took one last look at them, and then, murmuring 
'•'Gunboats: Britisli gunboats, by George!" he jumped 
til rough brake and briar for his horse, jumped in his sad- 
dle, yelling as he went, "The x\dmiral ! the Admiral !" 
He put his liorse on the run, yelling as he sped, "The 
Admiral! the Admiral!" It was a windy day, and as he 
hastened for Edenton his hat blew off. But on he went, 
not cffinng for his hat. Some of his neighbors ran out to 
see what was to i)ay. To his shouting, "The Admiral !" 
he was asked, "What Admiral ?" He gave but one an- 
swer, "The Admiral !" 

When he readied town after his Gilpin ride, the air was 
vocal with his shouts and the people were in great alarm. 
Colonel McDonald was mounting his cannon, and the avo- 
men of the town were making their escape in every way. 

While this scene of turmoil prevailed, six small oyster 
boats came u]i to the wharf, laden with the luscious bi- 
valves, and (]iiiet was restored. About the same time 
Admiral Cockburn was burning Washington and Presi- 
dent ]\Iadison was making his escape from the President's 
house; and Jimmy Sutton's flight from six little oyster 
boats haunted him through life. 



BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT HOUSE. 79 

BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT HOUSE. 
Oh I History ! what falsehoods are written in thy name. 

HisTOEY sometimes repeats itself, but ofteuer corrects 
itself. Kapoleon once said that history was a fable, and 
we sometimes have thought that he who made more his- 
tory than any other life, spoke trtily. It really is melan- 
choly to think of the fables of history, the inaccuracies of 
history, the omissions of history, and its misrepresenta- 
tions. jX'^ortli Carolina has been a great sufferer in that 
way: jjrobably the greatest of all the original thirteen. 
Why this is so, we know nut; but we have a theory that 
may, perhaps, account for it. 

The history factories of our country have been Boston 
and Richmond. Boston's market for its historical wares 
has been the Nortli, and Richmond's market has been the 
South. Boston has never cared anything about us, any 
way: probably all the greatest of the original thirteen, 
had a swollen head and a morbid State pride that caused 
Virginia to tliinl^: that history and its heroes belonged 
to them, and ]S;orth Carolina, being their next-door neigh- 
bor, was absorbed, and all its historic laurels torn from her 
modest l)row and wreathed around Virginia's avaricious 
croAvn. 

Time bringeth all things right, but often wears leaden 
shoes, and is rather tardy in putting in its work. Time 
took a hundred years and more to write aright the 
history of the Regulators of Alamance and for that 
long time it allowed the history factories to brand the 
heroes of that earliest bugle note of the Revolution as 
lawless brigands, instead of heralding them truly as pa- 
triots, heroes and martyrs to the sacred cause of liberty. 

So with the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. 
It was a hundred years before that immortal event in 
the history of Nortli Carolina and the whole country was 
given its just place in the annals of this country. And to 
this day it is sometimes spoken of as apocryphal. 



8o ouandfathkr's tales. 

And now we are engaged in a manly struggle to main- 
tain, from contemporary authority and proofs that are 
incontestable, tliat the Battle of Guilford Court House, 
on North Carolina's sacred soil, rendered the British sur- 
render at "^rorktown a "foregone conclusion," that the 
retreat of the North Carolina troops, after two steady 
rifle volleys, was a strategic movement, ordered by General 
Greene and carried out in good order and without con- 
fusion. 

The Battle of Guilford Court House was the beginning 
of tlie end of the Revolutionary War. It Avas the pivotal 
battle of the war. It was the Gettysburg of the fight. 
The enemy fell into our victorious arms at Yorktown, with 
heart and ba(*k1)ono broken l)v their stunning blow at 
Guilford. 

I1u' action of the North Carolina troops at Guilford 
was a military strategy that ]\rorgan had successfully used 
at the Battle of Cow]iens, and had recommended to General 
Greene to be used at Guilford. The troops were militia, 
and they were ordered by (jcneral Greene to deliver a 
rifle volley into the ranks of the British when they made 
a bayonet charge and got within rifle range. They obeyed 
c-rders. They delivered tAvo volleys, mortally wounding 
Colonel Webster, of the British Army, who was in com- 
mand of the charging party, and mowiua' down his men 
like autuuiu leaves. They tlicn retreated in good order, 
as ordered by General Greene. 

Colonel Tarleton, of the British Army, who was in 
the road to the rear of W^ebster's Brigade, and witnessed 
the charge, says of it: "The order and coolness of that 
part of Webster's brigade which advanced across the open 
ground exposed to the enemy's fire, can not be sufficiently 
extolled. Tlie militia allowed the front line to approach 
within 150 yards before they gave their fire." 

The Battle of Guilford Court House was fought on 
Thursdav, March 15, 1781, between the American forces 
under Major-General Greene and the Eno'lish forces un- 
der Lord Cornwallis, and in its character and consequen- 
ces was second to no battle of the Revolution. 



BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT HOUSE. 8l 

Lee and Campbell, who participated in the fi^ht on the 
American side, and have written about it, have written 
disparagingly of the I^orth Carolina troops, who were 
]n tiie front line of General Greene's army. But they were 
\ irgmians, and their testimony has been criticised and 
contradicted by so many witnesses that truth has over- 
taken It after the lapse of many years. 

On Saturday before the battle, Greene writes to Gov- 
ernor Jefferson, of Virginia, explaining his plan of bat- 
tle, and his expectancy of General Caswell of the North 
Carolina militia and Colonel Campbell with the Virginia 
Jvegulars; and upon their arrival he expected to "dispose 
o± the army m sucli a manner as, at least, to encumber 
tiie enemy ^^-ith a number of wounded men." In General 
Greenes correspondence he refers to General Pickens' 
command of North Carolinians as troops "on whose ser- 
vices he could depend on from day to dav." Johnson 
who adopts the Virginia dis]5aragement of the North Car- 
olina mihtia, m speaking of the battle of Hobkirk's Hill 
M'hic^ took place on the 25th day of April, more than a 
month after the Battle of Guilford, says: "The only mili- 
tia lorce then with the army consisted of 254 North Caro- 
linians; 150 of these, under Colonel Eead, had joined 
ureene soon after he crossed the Dan, and had faithfully 
adhered to him from that time." These men were in the 
±>attle ol Guilford. 

TheiT^were 1 640 North Carolina troops in the Battle 
o± Guilford. These were militia and volunteers whose 
names are not mentioned on the muster rolls. They obeyed 
he orders of General Greene, discharged two volleys at 
the bayonet charge of the English, doing great slaughter, 
and then retreated as General Greene had ordered. These 
facts are well established, while it is as well established 
tiiat a militia company commanded by Lee left the field " 
without orders from General Greene. (See Schenck's 
iNorth Carolma, 17S0-81.) 



82 grandfather's tales. 



JOHN STANLY. 

An eye like Mars. 

To threaten and command. 

Few men have lived iu North Carolina of more con- 
spicuous natural endowments than John Stanly, of New 
Bern, who was disabled for many years by a stroke of 
paralysis while speaking on the floor of the House of 
Commons of North Carolina. That was in 1825, and he 
died in 1834. 

In the obituary notice of Stanly, written by his great 
rival at the bar in North Carolina, William Gaston, gives 
? graphic account of the sad close of the career of one of 
the most gifted men that North Carolina has ever pro- 
duced. He was for many years a member of the Legis- 
lature of North Carolina, and by his aggressive and out- 
spoken vehemence and sarcasm, he held the rod over that 

body. 

Mr. Stanly was es])ecially an Eastern man, and he lield 
a rod pickled in his sarcasm over the Western North Car- 
olina deleo-ation in the Legislature of North Carolina. 
He kept them all completely "hacked," until Bartlett 
Yancey, of Caswell County, a if earless, fiery _and_ impetuous 
speaker, came on the stage as a Eepresentative in the Leg- 
islature. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Stanly held the highest rank m the 
State, but he was more noted as an advocate before the 
jury than as a jurist, and his forte of sarcasm and invec- 
tive 2;ave him great power. 

The misfortune of his life was his killing Governor 
Speight in a duel. The dispute between Speight and 
StanTv arose from some political controversy, and Stanly 
was challenged by Governor Speight tx) mortal combat. 
The challenge was accepted and the arrangements made 
for the meeting. The hostile meeting took place on the 
suburbs of the^own of New Bern. They stood back to 
back at ten paces apart, and wheeled and fired when the 



JOHN STANLY, 



83 



A\oni was given. The town turned out en masse. Several 
meltectual sliots were exchanged. There were propositions 
naade ±or an amicable settlement, but Speight was obsti- 
nate and refused all propositions for settlement. At 
iength Stanlj aimed the fatal shot and Speight fell, mor- 
tally wounded. Speight was an old and distinguished 
man, and had befriended Stanly in his early manhood. 
Jlis death was a blow to the happiness of Stanly, from 
which jie never entirely recovered. 

Mr. Stanly was a man of great resource in emergency 
An incident of his readiness and adroitness in legislation 
IS given by his contemporaries in the Legislature. Gen- 
ico^ W^^''^^^ ^^i«ited the United States from France in 
1820. He was the guest of the country, and the honors 
tiiat M'ere paid to him were an outpouring of gratitude 
lor his services in achieving our independence. He came 
to INorth Carolina during his journey, and the leading 
members of the Legislature were anxious for an appro- 
priatioulrom the State Treasury to defray the expenses 
Ox his visit to .^^orth Carolina. There was some opposi- 
lon to the appropriation from some parsimonious mem- 
bers. Ihe friends of the bill thought it would pass if the 
ayes and nays were not called. The vote on the final 
passage was at hand. Tlie stillness of death pervaded the 
Assembly. Stanly was in the chair as Speaker. When 
aboiit to put tlie question, a western member in homespun 

na^^s. The house was dumb, and an awful stillness pre- 
vailed. Stanly called Treclell, of Edenton, to the chair 
^ "-V'^^.^r^o^' "cerulean- eye over the Assembly; 
.ml said: -Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his 

'ITlri'-, ' ^''''' ^'^■'"''^ ^"^ P''^ ^^^''y ^^ember on record, 
so that ,1 any one votes against this bill he mav be gibbeted 
M> lip on the pillory of infamy." Every man voted 



84 grandfather's tales. 



GASTON AT THE UNIVERSITY COMMENCE- 
MENT OF 1832. 

A proud clay. 

Tile address of William Gaston at the University of 
Xorth Carolina at the Commencement of 1832 was an 
event iri the literary history of i^orth Carolina. Gaston's 
Address at the University, Choate's Eulogy on Daniel 
Webster at Dartmouth College, and Grady's Address at 
Boston, were the three greatest rostrum addresses of the 
nineteenth century, so far as we have heard or read. Gas- 
ton's address was the grandest of them all, and no other 
of them would have won. from their audience a rapture 
that rose above demonstrative applause, as Gaston's did. 
When Gaston came to the University to deliver the an- 
nual address before tlie Dialectic and Philanthropic Socie- 
ties, by invitation of the latter Society, of which he was 
an honorary member, he was on the high middle ground 
of life, being 53 years old. He had won fame in Con- 
gress and in ithe General Assembly of North Carolina. He 
had a State and a National re])ntation, and when the Phi.'? 
were enabled by the abrogation of an agreement wliich had 
existed to invite only re.gular members of tlic two Socie- 
ties to deliver the annual address, it was reo-arded as a 
great triumph over the Di.'s, as it was thought that thev 
did not have an equal to Gaston on their roll of member 
ship, and he was already regarded as the Commencemen: 
orator. 

The appointment of Gaston drew a large concourse ot 
visitors from all parts of the State; the largest, it was said 
that ever attended a Commencement before, especiall; 
of the prominent and distinguished men of the Stat( 
Gaston came during the Commencement exercises, a day 
or two before the deliverv of the address. He was th«' 
suest of Dr. Caldwell, the President of the University. 
He became at once the cynosure of all eyes. His man 
ncr was "i'rave, courteous and unostentatious. He wn- 



GASTON AT THE UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT. 85 

affable with dignity and companionable without familiar- 
ity lie visited the libraries occasionally, and sometimes 
walked A\-ith Dr. Caldwell to his astronomical observatory 
and we once saw him with the austere and dignified Pres- 
ident, who was a man somewhat in stature like him 
wlio climbed the sycamore tree to see Christ, and Gaston 
o± large and imposing person, and the thought flitted 
through our mind that "Bolus" looked smaller by the 
comparison. 

_ As the big day of the Commencement came, expecta- 
tion grQ^v as the time approached. The June day was 
auspicious. The students ^yeve arrayed in their best. 
All the arrangements had been uuide. Tom Ashe of 
Wilmington, had been selected by the Phi. Society to walk 
en one sicie of Gaston in the procession to Person Hall 
where lie Mas to speak, and Thomas L. Clingman, selected 
by the Ui. Society, on the other. With some difficulty 
we procured a scholar's black silk gown large enough for 
Gaston to wear. 

rT^/^'?>-^^'"°^''^'^'°'' ''''^^ formed at the old South Building. 
JLhe Itichmond (."ornet Band was in front. Xext came 
Gaston, the orator, costumed in a black silk i^own On 
one_^sidc of Jiim was Tom Ashe, with the trained step of 
an _b.iiglis]. grenadier, with the proud and grand visage that 
hespake lus lineage. On the other side was Clinoman 
awkward and gawRy as a plowman's prentice boy, but with 
a brain that Webster and Cuvier might have envied jSText 
to them came the Trustees of the University, marchino- 
two and two. ISText the Faculty, then the student bodv^ 
anrl last the concourse of visitors. 

The ]u-ocession started from the "Old South," rio-ht- 
hauked to the "Old East," and, when opposite Pei-son 
Hall, wheeled on the left and faced for the Hall, the band 
meanwlnlo, blowing' their spirit-stirrino- airs "like mad '' 

The hoarl of the eolumn reached the threshhold of 
1he_oJ(l clia„o], which, in a thousand vears, Avill be a 
Phnne for literary pil-rims. There was then and tliere 
a momentary pause. Then Gaston, with the beariuo- of 



86 grandfather's tales. 

old John KcMuble, entered on the left and right of him 
AhIio and Clingnian ; Ashe with a military bearing 
that ^^•ould have done honor to the hero of a thousand 
battles, Clingnian throwing out his legs right and left like 
he was stiif-kneed, and looking for all the world like he 
thought all the crowd was looking at him, and that Gas- 
ton and Ashe were mere small kites dangling at his tail, 
to give i)om]i to his pageantry. But "old Billy" had the 
brains. 

They marched to tlie rostrum, and as they were taking 
tlieir seats near a little table on which Gaston was about 
placing his manuscript, Clingman, in moving his awkward 
logs, knocked tbe table over, and but for Ashe's readiness, 
the table, and perhaps Gaston himself, would liave gone 
sprawling on the floor below. 

The Trustees followed, and with the Faculty, headed by 
"old Bolus," took their seats on the rostrum like "potent, 
gTave and reverend seignors." The Seniors of the grad- 
uating class followed and took tluur accustomed seats, that 
they Avere about to vacate forever for the rosy drama of 
life. Thou the Juniors, tlicn the Sophs., and lastly the 
J'resh., ])rondest of them all, l»('cause they were incipient 
Sophs, and had throAvu off the Freshman's toga. 

The Fresh. Iiad hardly taken tlioir accustomed seats in 
the cha]iel when the crowd of visitors broke ranks, as if 
in panic, .ill pressing forward in eager haste to get seats 
in the clia]»v'l. Ft was a madding crowd, heaving and 
setting in a fi-antic mass that beu'cars description. Bea- 
vers were lifted above the crowd of surging,' liumanity. 
Beavers were crushed, ^lon wci'o lifted from their feet 
and borne along by tlie struG-o-lino' and compact mass. They 
were an hour pushing, tussling', heaving and setting to get 
in and get seats. Tears of pcrs]nration ran down their 
rugged cheeks, an<l passion was painted on everv linea- 
ment of that heaviuu' mob. While they were heaving 
near th(> door, wo. a Freshman, full of adiiiii"ati(ui for 
greatness, crept up to a standinu' ]ilace in the aisle near the 
speaker, and waited there, standino' within ten feet of 
him. 



GASTON AT THE UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT. 87 

At length tlie mob subsided and got standing places, 
r>nd there was a great calm. The hall was jammed and 
crammed. Jack Ha ugh ton, of Tyrrell, a Senior friend, 
and Ave, stood near together, and gave the speech a rapt 
attention during the hour and twenty minutes of its de- 
livery. 

It was a grand efi'ort, the grandest that Gaston ever 
made, and should now be in the hands of every school 
boy and every man of generous aspirations in the State. 
Jt should go dovv'n the generations as the companion piece 
of liis State anthem — "The Old North State." It should 
be taught in onr schools. It should be committed to mem- 
cry in classes. It should be declaimed on our school 
board'*. It should be adopted as a classic in our lessons of 
elof^utiou. It would make us better boys, better men, bet- 
ter scholars, more acc^omplished gentlemen. 



88 , grandfather's tales. 

the last of the romans. 

The Grand Old Man. 

^Jk. J i.l•l■■KKso^" said of Nathaniel Macon that he was 
the last of the Romans. Jolm liandolph said in his will, 
he was tlic wisest man he had ever known. Mr. Benton 
speaks of him, in his "Thii-ty Years in the Senate," as his 
counsellor and friend in public life. Mr. Macon has 
p.issed into history as one of the purest and most incorrup- 
tible statesmen that has ever been on the stage of public 
life in these United States. He was a type of the old 
i\orth Carolina character in the earlier and better days of 
the State. He was plain, straiiihtforward and had great 
simplicity of character. His simplicity amounted to ec- 
centricity. He was morally and physically courageous. 
He drew his knife to defend Mr. Randolph from personal 
assault in a theatre in Philadelphia. Against the unani- 
mous sentiment of Congress and the people, he refused to 
vote for an appropriation in Congress to pay the traveling 
expenses of Geiieral Lafayette, when he visited this coun- 
try in 1820 as the guest of the Nation. He was simple 
in his manners, ways, conversation and deportment. He 
wished his family and grandchildren to call him ''Mee- 
kins,'^ insisting that Macon was called Meekins by the 
eld ]>eople, and they called liim so until one of his devil 
boys, Bob, said to liim at his table, ''Grandpa Meekins, 
will you have some of the beekins" (bacon). He was 
elected to the General Assembly of jSTortli Carolina from 
Warren County when he was a private in the Revolution- 
ary Aruiy. with a musket on his shoulder. When his elec- 
tion was announced to him, he told the messenger that 
they meant somebody else, and refused the office until its 
.ncceptance was ura'ed upon him bv Governor Caswell. 
When he came to Raleich in l.*^.^.") as a member of the Con- 
vention, Miss Betsy Gaddis, wlio kci^t a boardinf!,-house 
for members of the Assemldv, and witli whom he had 
boarded when a voimo- man in tlie Assemldy, called to see 



THE LAST OF THE ROMANS. 89 

him and embraced him. Mr. Macon did not know her at 
first, but after awhile he said that he remembered her, 
that "she made the best grog he ever drank." In the 
(convention of lSo5, in a lull in the debate on the Catholic 
disability clause of the old Constitution, he called Jo 
Rhoullac, of Bertie, to the chair, and addressed the body 
on the subject. The danger of the Roman Catholic relig- 
ion to our secular institutions had been much mentioned. 
Mr. Macon favored the removal of the disability, and 
among other things said, with "Teat simolicity: "Gentle- 
men say they fear the Catholics will swallow up our lib- 
erties. There is some danger of it, but there's more dan- 
ger of a mouse SAvallowing a buffalo ;" and then he added, 
"I am not a member of any church, but I sometimes 
attend the Baptist and feel pretty sure the Baptists would 
swallow them before they swallowed our liberties." 

We are probably now the only living IvTorth Carolinian 
who has a distinct impression of Mr. Macon's personality, 
and we are often applied to for information about him. 
We saw him once in 1831, wdien a boy of fifteen, in War- 
rc-nton at a Fourth-of-Julv banquet.. Mr. Macon was 
then about eighty, and was evidently the "big dog in the 
pit" and a favorite of the people. He talked familiarly 
with any and everybody. He had on a chip hat and home- 
spun plain clothes, with a long vest that covered his abdo- 
men. They called him "Uncle I^Tat." Some one asked 
him where lie o-ot his hat froui. He replied that his over- 
seer's wife made it for him. 

We next saw him for ten consecutive days as presidino- 
officer of the Convention of 1835. He was then about 
eighty-three, apr)arently vigorous and having but little 
the marks of senility. His hair was short cut, not fleecy 
white, but a light sandy grav. He was apparently about 
5 feet 8 inches in heic^ht: weight apparentlv about 16.5; 
complexion blonde, inclined to rosy. Dress, a browuv 
white suit of linen thread of apparently domestic mauu- 
facture. His eyes were gray, inclined to Hue. He was 
stocky built; his eye was not dim, and his natural force 



90 GRANDFATHKk'S TALKS. 

\\as well preserved. He was clean shaved. He was always 
in his place, and did not vacate his place bnt once in the 
ten days we attended the Convention in the Presbyterian 
church, in lialeigh, and that was during the debate on the 
thirty-second article of tlie old Constitution, above re- 
feri'od to. 



BETSY DOWDY'S RIDE. 
HISTORICAL TRADITIONS OF THE BATTLE AT <iREAT BRIDGE. 

" O. woman, timid as a child. 
Wlien skies are bright, serene and milil; 
Let evil come, with angry brow, 
A lion-hearted hero thou." 

The winter of 1775 was a dark and iilooiuy time for 
the Kevolutionary patriots of North Carolina. Governor 
Tryon had left his "palace" in New Bern, secretly and 
hurriedly had taken refuiic on board the armed schooner 
••<^'i'ui/er," and was stationed at the mouth of the Cape 
Fear Jiiver, issuing orders, fortifying- the Tory feeling 
in the Colony, and inciting the slaves to servile insurrec- 
tion. Lord l^uninore had been driven from Williams- 
burg, XiX., by ])o])ular iudiunation, and had gone down to 
Norfolk and intreiiclieil liiniself ther(\ Fmni tliis posi- 
tion lie \\;is ;iniio\in>r ibe adjacent sections of ^'il■ginia 
li\- liostile rai<ls, ;]}\i\ was ex])ected to make incursions into 
the adjacent sections of Carolina. The death of John 
Harvey, of Per(|uimans County, in June, 1775, had cast 
a gloom o\'cr the Colony, and especially over the northeast- 
ern counties, where his patriotism and manly virtues were 
best l<nt">wn. Put the fires of lil)ertv were ke])t burning. 
D\inmore, with a few remilnrs who lind accom]ianied him 
in his flight from "\Villiamsl)urn, \'a., had ravati'od Suf- 
folk and some olhei' idaces, and was lU'epariu'i to extend 
his ravages to tlie All)omarle section of Carolina. Our 
leading men vcre on the alert, and couriers were keeping 



BETSY dowdy's RIDE. 93 

them in close touch. John Harvey, of Perquimans, had 
joined his fathers across the great divide, but his mantle 
had fallen upon his kinsman and connection by marriage, 
Gen. William Skinner, of Yeopim Creek, and he was 
watching every movement of Dunmore. Col. Isaac Greg- 
ory, of Camden, was hurrying with a small militia force 
to join our Col. Robert Howe and meet the enemy at 
Great Bridge, in Virginia. Tom Benbury, of Chowan, 
then Speaker of the lower house of the General Assembly., 
had left his luxurious home at "Benbury Hall," that 
overlooked Albemarle Sound, and was hurrying to join the 
troops under Howe, with commissary stores. Excitement 
ran high, and the expected invasion of the Albemarle 
counties, and the probable collision at Great Bridge, where 
Dunmore was intrenched, was the universal subject of con- 
versation. Howe was pushing by forced marches to the aid 
of Virginia with some regulars and the Hertford County 
militia under Colonel Wynns of that county. Public 
expectation was on tiptoe. 

Joe Dowdy and old man Sammy Jarvis lived on the 
"'banks" opposite to Knott's Island. They were near 
neighbors and intimate friends. Early in December, 
1775, Jarvis went over to the "main" to hear the news 
of Colonel Howe's movement toward Great Bridge. 
\Ylien he returned home, late in the evening, he was greatly 
excited. He was impressed wdth the dangerous situation 
of the dwellers by the sea. He was constantly saying, 
"Dunmore and them blamed Britishers will come down 
the coast from Norfolk and steal all our 'banks' stock 
and burn our houses, dine 'em." After a short rest and 
a hasty bite of supper, old man Jarvis went over to 
Dowdy's to tell him the news. 

Dowdy was a wrecker for the money that was in it, and 
a fisher for the food that was in it. He was always 
watching the sea. He was a devout man, always prayed 
for the safet-^^ of the poor sailor who was exposed to the 
perils of the deep, and always closed with a silent suppli- 
cation that if there should be a wreck, it might be on the 



94 grandfather's tales. 

Currituck beach. He had ^-ivosnered in the business of 
c wrecker^ had saved many lives and much wreckage and 
money. His visible stx>re of chattels was beef cattle and 
banker ponies. He herded them bv the hundreds. 

Uncle Sammy came in without ceremony and was cor- 
dially received. "Well, Uncle Sammv." said Dowdy, 
'■what are the news; tell us all." "Well, Joseph," said 
Jarvis, "things is fogerty. Gregory, Colonel Isaac, is 
hurrying up his Camden milish to join Howe, and Tom 
Benbury, of Chowan, is pushino- on his wagons of com- 
missaries. If they don't reacli Great Bridge in time to 
bear a hand in the fight, they'll hurry on to T^J'orfolk and 
drive Dunmoi'e out of the old town. But if Dumnore 
beats our folks at Great Bridge tlien our goose is cooked, 
and our property is all ffone, all the gold and goods saved 
in our hard life-work, and all our cattle and marsh po- 
nies." "You don't tell me," said Dowdy. "Yes, it's so, 
just as sure as 'old Tom.' The only thing that can save 
us is General Skinner, of Perquimans, and the militia, 
and he is too far away. We can't get word to him in 
time." As Jarvis said these words slowly and with em- 
phasis, Betsy Dowdy, Joe Dowdy's young and pretty 
daughter, who was present with the family, said : "Uncle 
Sammy, do you say the British will come and steal all our 
ponies ?" "Yes," said he. She replied : "I'd knock 'em 
in the head with a conch shell first." Betsy soon left the 
room. She went to the herding pen, and Black Bess was 
not there. She then went to the marsh and called aloud, 
"Bess ! Bessie ! Black Beauty !" The pretty pony heard 
the old familiar voice and came to the call. Betsy took 
her by her silken mane, led her to the shelter, Avent into the 
house, brought out a blanket and also a smnll ]iouch of 
coin. She placed the blanket on the round back of the 
pony, sprang into the soft seat and galloped over the hills 
and far away on her perilous journey. Down the beach 
she went, Black Bess doinsr her accustomed work. She 
reached the point opposite Church's Island, dashed into 
the shallow ford of Cun'itiuck Sound and reached the 



BETSY dowdy's ride. 95 

there of the island. On they sped, Black Bess gaining 
new impulse from every kind and gentle worrl of Betsy. 
The wonderful endurance of tlie banker pony nevei 
failed, and Black Bess needed no spur but the cheer- 
ing word of her rider. "Bessie, pretty Bess; my 
black, sleek beauty, the British thieves shan't have you. 
We are going after General Skinner and his milish. 
They'll beat 'em oft' of you." She almost sano- to the 
docile pony as tliey went on their journey. Through the 
divide, on through Camden, the twinkling stars her only 
light, over Gid. Lamb's old ferry, into Pasquotank by the 
'■.Varrows" (now Elizabeth City), to Hartsford, up the 
Irjghlands of Perquimans, on to Yeopim Creek, and Gen- 
eral Skinner's hospitable home was reached. The morn- 
ing sun was gilding the tree tops when she entered the 
gate. She was hospitably welcomed, and when she briefly 
told the story of her coming, cordial kindness followed. 
TJie General's daughters, the toast of the Albemarle, 
D<jlly, Penelope and Tavinia, made her at home. He 
listened to her tale of danger and promised assistance. 

Midday came, and with it Betsy's kind farewell. Fil- 
ial duty bade her, and she hied her home. As she neared 
her sea-girt shore the notes of victory were in the air. 
"They are beaten, beaten, beaten, they are beaten at Great 
Bridire." The reports materialized as she went. The 
battle at Great Bridge had been fought and won. Howe 
had assumed command of the Virginia and Carolina 
ti'oops upon his arrival, and was in hot pursuit of Dun- 
more toward ISTorfolk, where, after a short resistance, 
Norfolk was evacuated by the British troops, who sought 
refuge on board their ships, and, after a few cannon 
shot into the town, they departed for parts unknown. 

Then, and long after, by bivouac and camp fire and in 
patriotic homes was told the story of Betsy Dowdy's 
Ride. 



96 grandfather's tales. 



\A/HAT 1 KNOW ABOUT SHOCCO JONES. 

Great wit to madness nearly is allied, 
And thin partitions do the bounds divide. 

— Pope. 

Leaving out the early chronicle of Lawson, we have 
had four formal histories of North Carolina, Lawson's be- 
ing an account of his journeyings through the country, 
and the history written by Joseph Seawell Jones, of War- 
ren County, i^orth Carolina, being called ''Jones' De- 
fence of Xorth Carolina." "Shocco" was a pseudonym, 
adopted probably because he was born near Sliocco Springs, 
in Warren County, ]S[. C, a place of fashionable resort 
then, and for some years after. Jones was a young man, 
full of enthusiasm, with an intellect of brilliant rather 
than substantial type, with eccentricity on the border line 
of insanity, sometimes considered the genuine article, 
and with a love of the sensational, which was tlie ruling 
passion of his soul. With the addition of that passion by 
which Wolsey and the "angels fell," you have a pen pic- 
ture of a ISTorth Carolinian of the olden times, who filled 
a large space in the Dublic eye of the State, and whose 
sad history was a romance and a failure. 

"Jones' Defence of I^orth Carolina" was a develop- 
ment of the period. Dr. Williamson's History of I^orth 
Carolina had been a failure as a history and not a success 
as a medical disquisition upon the fevers of Eastern 
Xorth Carolina. 

Xavier Martin's History succeeded Williamson's, and 
but for his removal from the State in the first years of 
the nineteenth century, and tlie subsequent loss of his his- 
torical materials, his history would have supplied a great 
want. 

Then came a long interval of quiescence about the State 
history, and its first revival was by the publication of 
some accounts referring to the Mecklenburg Declaration. 
II attracted considerable attention in the State, and the 
subject was given a new interest by the publication of a 
correspondence between ex-Presidents Jolm Adams and 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT SHOCCO JONES. 97 

T]]oinas Jelferson, in which correspondence Mr. Jefferson 
had charged that the Mecklenburg Declaration was a 
iraud, and in connection with it had made some unjust im- 
putations u])on the patriotism, and loyalty of the North 
Carolina representatives in the Congress of the Revolu- 
tion. It excited a furor in the State. It touched our 
patriotism at the nerve centre. In this tide of popular 
sentiment of North Carolina, "Shocco" Jones was thrown 
u]3on the top of tlie wave of public indignation. He w^as 
fashionably connected, an habitue of the elite society of 
Shocco Springs, a native of the historic county of War- 
ren, young, ardent and aggressive, and with an individual- 
ity of the most eccentric character. Vohd^le to a degree, 
his progress was not handicapped by modesty. The man 
and the occasion met. Jones had literary instincts, am- 
bition, culture to some extent, and surely Mr. Jefferson 
was an antagonist worthy of his steel. He had the social 
feeling inordinately, travelled much, knew evervliody. and 
wished to know everybody else, and his jiurpose to launch 
a shaft at the memory of the Sage of Monticello became 
widely known. He became a pet of the distinguished 
men in North Carolina, and men whose lineage ran back 
to the foundation of the State were fired by his patriotic 
enthusiasm, and made him the custodian of their valuable 
family records, which he had no talent for preservino'. It 
Vv'as proclaimed that he would prove that Mr. fFefferson 
was a plagiarist and that he had the resolutions of Meck- 
lenburg (^^oimty on his table when he wrote the National 
Declaration of Independence. 

"Jones' Defence" appeared, and it added fresh fuel to 
the flame of patriotism. It did not give entire satisfaction 
to the mature judgment of the State. Some said it was 
inaccurate in statement, and others that it was too "efflo- 
rescent in diction," but it fired the youthful mind and was 
the basis of many a college essay and declamation. 

PERSOIVAL KEOOT.T.p;CTIONS. 

.\bout the time that the "Defence" made its appearance, 
or while in the throes of expectancy, we were a Freshman 

7 



98 grandfather's tales. 

or ISo])liomore at the Univ^crsity, and the news spread 
through the College that "Shocco" Jones was in the vil- 
lage and had come through the campus riding upon the 
shoulders of a stalwart negro. We were the librarian of 
the Philanthropic Society and on duty when the news 
reached us. Soon after, there came into the Library Hall 
a man, swarthy, tall, long-haired, wild-eyed, who intro- 
duced himself as Jo. Seawell Jones, of Shocco. He was 
attended by several students. Tlie conversation was led 
by Mr. Jones, and soon it fell into the subject of his "De- 
fence of North Carolina." His whole soul seemed ab- 
sorbed in the subject. He was unsparing in his denuncia- 
tions of Mr. Jefferson. He stated that he was then en- 
gaged in preparing a "Picturesque History of iSTorth Caro- 
lina," to follow the "Defence of North Carolina." 
We suppose now that he meant an "Illustrated His- 
tory of North Carolina," as he casually referred to 
some of the historic scenes on Roanoke Island. 

We neither saw nor heard any more of "Shocco" 
Jones, except occasional mention of his being in Wash- 
ington, and his prominence in society circles, until about 
1836. Meanwhile his "Defence of North Carolina" liad 
been generally read, and it had various comments. It 
Ivccame a pyre at which the torch of patriotism was fired. 

About 1830 it was reported in North Carolina that 
^'Shocco" Jones had been involved in an angry personal 
dispute in Rhode Island, with a citizen of that State, about 
the Revolutionary history of North Carolina, which liad 
resulted in a challenge from Jones to the field of honor. 
The challenge was said to have been accepted, and the 
fi2;ht was to come off at an early date. In a short time 
fame a proclamation from the Governor of Rhode Island, 
f(ulu'dding the violation of the peace within the bounds of 
Rhode Island. A counter proclamation was promptly 
issued by Jones, in which lie intimated that the fight could 
be had across the little State of Rhode Island without vio- 
latinjT its laws. Meanwhile the public mind of North 
Carolina was on the qiii vivo of expectancy. 



WHAT I KNOW ABOUT SHOCCO JONES. 99 

While the jjublic interest was at its height, a Scotch 
schoolmaster of the town of Edenton, named McLochlin, 
raw, credulous, sympathizing, came from jSTorfollv, Va., 
by the canal-stage route to his home in Edenton. The 
stage stopped at the "Half-Way House" for dinner. While 
McLochlin was at dinner, there came from an inside door 
a man, wild-looking, haggard, nervous, abstracted, and 
took a seat beside him. He confided to McLochlin's cred- 
ulous ear the story of the fatal duel he had just fought on 
the Virginia line, where he had killed his adversary, and 
all for iN[orth Carolina. He said he was pursued by the 
officers of the law, showed him a handkerchief saturated 
with blood with which he had staunched the blood of his 
dying adversary, begged his help in this time of his great- 
est need, asked McLochlin if there was any one in Edenton 
who would shelter a man who had shed the blood of his 
enemy for jSTorth Carolina. Jones took his new friend to 
a private room, where he opened the tale of the tragedy. 
After long deliberation, the name of Hugh Collins was 
suggested as the friend of the distressed. Oh, yes ! Jones 
knew him well. Had mot him in Washington society 
circles. The very man ! 

It was arranged that McLochlin should go on to Eden- 
ton, go at once to Hugh Collins, who was then fishing a 
large seine at the old Sandy Point fishery, and get him to 
meet Jones at the arrival of the stage in Edenton next 
day. McLochlin hied him home. Jones remained in 
hiding. 

Jones came to Edenton next day. Collins was in wait- 
ing. Damon and Pythias were not more cordial than 
''Hugh" and "Shoe." A carriage was in waiting. Both 
were hurried in and off, and with rapid speed they were 
taken to the safe retreat of Sandy Point beach. When 
they arrived, Jones, for greater safety, asked Collins to 
put out pickets to provide against surprise and to keep his 
private yacht manned with four stalwart oarsmen, ready 
at a moment's notice to take Jones to the southern shore 
of Albemarle Sound. "Hugh," full of the responsibility 



loo grandfather's tales. 

of his great charge, had everything ready as requested. 
The oarsmen never left their rowlocks. After a few days 
Jones came out from hiding, and for ten days no man in 
Korth Carolina hns been more lionized, petted and feasted. 
Jack Leary, a veteran wealthy seine fisherman, banqueted 
him with great and bounteous honor. Thomas Benbury, 
'the oldest fisherman on tlie sound, claimed him as his 
l?onored guest. Others followed. If Jones had asked for 
$100,000, we believe lie could have liad an honorod check 
for it in half an hour. 

After some time spent in this round of festivity and 
honor, Jones went to Mississippi, where he hobnobbed 
\yith Sargent S. Prentis, ''whom he had introduced into 
good society at Washington." Finally, in the Avilds of 
Texas, in the days of the old Texan wars with Mexico, he 
died, a hermit, alone, deserted, unknown — with all his 
eccentricities, a patriot, a lover of his old home, having 
done some good in his day and generation, and left a name 
auionc its historians. 



GOVERNOR JOHN M. MORKHEAD. lOI 



GOVERNOR JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, 
Is the immediate jewel of their souls 

—Othello. 

GovEKXOE MoKEirEAi)^ of Greensboi'o, was a typical, 
ie])reseiitative .T^Torth Carolinian. He was poised, con- 
^ervative, unpretentious and plain. Large in person, dig- 
nified in bearing, courteous in deportment, he had the 
^'guinea stamp" of nature's nobility. We imagine he 
was not a man of early educational advantages, and we 
tliink he was not an alumnus of the University. We re- 
ceived that impression from hearing his inaugural address 
as Governor in the capitol at Kaleigh, after his election over 
Gen. Komulus M. Saunders in the famous Harrison cam- 
])aign of 18-10. We were a younger man then than now, 
and thought the whole educational duty of man was to know 
the proper construction of a grammatical sentence and to 
explain the ditference between ''done" and "did," and Gov- 
ernor Morehead, in his inaugural address, rose above the 
littleness of tweedledum and tweedledee. It was an able 
speech, strong, patriotic and masterful, but not elegant. 

We did not then make allowance for the school of the 
campaign with General Saunders, from which he had 
recently emerged, and which had taught him that strength 
^\'as stronger than elegance. General Saunders was the 
roughest of rough diamonds, and his phillipics were just 
on the temperate side of the "cuss" belt. 

Jn the campaign of 1840, Morehead was the Whig can- 
didate, and Saunders the Democratic, and in Edenton, 
before a cultured audience of ladies and gentlemen, there 
^^as a dramatic scene in the court-house, in which More- 
bead was in the act of rebaptising Saunders with a huge 
pitcher of water, in response to his inelegant language 
of vituperation, and -would have accomplished it but for 
the timely interposition of friends who were sitting on 
the platform with them. 



I02 grandfather's tales. 

Governor ]\lorehead was a patriotic and influential cit- 
izen of Korth Carolina. His judgment was clear and 
bis convictions courageous. His heart always beat true to 
the State and all its interests. He left a name of highest 
character and usefulness, at the mention of which our 
hearts have a warmer heart-beat of pride and gratitude. 

While Governor Morehead was in active life, the popu- 
lar cry and aspiration of all the leaders of thought in 
]Sorth Carolina was the building of a railroad running 
from the mountains to the seaboard of I^orth Carolina 
at Beaufort harbor. The idea was first started by Dr. Jo- 
seph Caldwell about the year 1824. 

The Doctor had travelled in Europe in the interest of 
the University in that year, and had witnessed the origin 
of railroad construction. He was a cold, cool, calculating 
man, and weighed things in icy scales before he endorsed 
them. He saw the beginning of the railroad era, saw the 
beginning of them in practical operation, and he came 
home thoroughly aroused to their great value in the devel- 
opment of new countries, and especially helpful to North 
Carolina. 

Over the name of "Carleton," he published in the Ra- 
leigh Begister and other State papers a series of railroad 
articles, urging the importance of a road running through 
the State from west to east and terminating at Beaufort 
harbor. The ablest and most influential leaders of the 
State welcomed the idea, took hold of it in a half-hearted 
way, talked about and spoke in public about it. It was 
the dream of a generation. But nothing of a practical 
character was done about it for many years. 

The honor of giving a practical impulse to that patri- 
otic State enterprise is due to William S. Ashe, of the dis- 
tinguished Ashe family of Wilmington, who introduced 
in the Senate of Noi-th Carolina a bill chartering the 
Korth Carolina TJailroad and giving State aid to the 
amount of tu^o millions to that great object. This bill 
passed both houses of the General Assembly, and Governor 
Morehead then threw his whole energy into accomplish- 



GOVERNOR JOHN M. MOREHEAD. IO3 

ing the work, building it from Charlotte to Goldsboro. 
Later, Governor Morehead applied himself to giving full 
effect to Dr. Caldwell's idea of connecting the mountains 
and the sea. 

What had long been the dream of Carolina's most dis- 
tinguished and patriotic sons became a reality to him. 
The people looked to him as the great leader of public 
thought in practical matters. The people listened to him 
gladly, and his counsels fell upon good ground and pro- 
duced its fruits. He rode down the contemplated road, 
worked up an enthusiasm that it had never knowm before, 
planted in the minds of the population along the route 
new seeds for contemplation that grew up, and in time 
Governor Morehead saw his work fully under way, and 
saw a new town started in Beaufort harbor that bore his 
name and was consecrated to his memory. 

The good work inaugurated by our great Governor, and 
partly accomplished by him, has never yet emptied into 
the lap of ]Sv'orth Carolina the rich fruits which at first 
were so confidently predicted ; but in the cycles of time, 
in Avhich a thousand years are as but a day, the time will 
come when a united iSTorth Carolina, with universal ac- 
claim, will rise up as one man to bless anew the revered 
name of John M. Morehead. 



I04 grandfathp:r's tai.EvS. 



AN EVENING WITH NA^ILLIAM GASTON. 

His life was gentle ; and the elements 

So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up. 

And say to all the world, This was a man. 

— Julius Ccesar. 

Matuked greatness has no feature more beautiful, and 
no ornament more attractive and graceful, than a conde- 
scending and amiable attention to youth. It is the Cor- 
inthian column of the Gothic temple, inviting by its 
graceful ])roportious the ap])r()ach of its youthful votary 
in the flush of enthusiastic devotion. Without it, great- 
ness is less great, and learning less comely ; Hercules with 
his club, inspiring awe, but repelling affection. "Like 
some old tower dimly seen by starlight, it leaves the im- 
pression of power akin to the terrific and sublime; but 
wants the mild and softening light of this absent grace to 
make it lovely to the contemplation and dear to the heart." 

Trusting to your defense from the charge of egotism, 
I will venture to incur the imputation by relating an in- 
cident connected with William Gaston, illustrative of his 
genial and kindly nature, which occurred at an early 
period of my life, Avhen I had but recently divested my 
youthful habiliments, and had scarcely yet accommodated 
myself with becoming dignity to the toga virilis of Ameri- 
can manhood. 

i\ot very long after the Convention of 1835, I chanced 
to visit the city of Raleigh while the Supreme Court was 
in session in company with a young friend ; and being 
detained longer than we had anticipated, I determined, if 
a suitable occasion presented, to turn the detention to 
i;ccount l»y satisfying what had long been a wish ungrat- 
ified, of forming the personal acquaintance of William 
Gnston. 

When a mere boy I had received a kind of parenthet- 
ical introduction to the great man, durins: a moment of 
leisure, wliile he was engaged in the trial of some cause 
before the Supreme Court, of which he was then an 




^^-^^ -" J CCy^lS^PS^^iZ- 



AN EVENING WITH WILLIAM GASTON. IO5 

attorney ; but 1 did not feel justified in renewing mj 
acquaintance, after the lapse of several years, upon the 
basis of such an impromptu introduction. 

As nay youth ripened into manhood, this ungratified 
wish had grown until it had become, indeed, an ardent 
passion of my heart. It was natural. 

It had been my good fortune to witness the exhibition 
of his wondrous power in some of its sharpest intellectual 
conflicts, and its most signal intellectual triumphs ; to wit- 
ness it at that most impressible period of life w^hen the 
heart, alive to 'every sympathy, yields its spontaneous 
homage to the magic mastery of genius. 

When, on my way to college, an aspirant to the honors 
of Freshmanship, I tarried a little in Raleigh ; not as at 
Jericho, '"'until my beard should grow," for that would have 
detained me too long — but in order to keep company 
with a ]>arty of "gay young fellows'' who were going up 
the same way I was, and who persuaded me to wait and 
join them and have a nice time altogether. 

The Legislature was in session. All Raleigh was aflame. 
Legislative combinations had been formed, and antagonis- 
tic elements had been moulded into a homogeneous mass 
to remove the capitol and rob her of her birthright. 

For want of something to do, I spent much of my 
time in the lobby of the Governor's house, then used as 
a temporaiw legislative hall, in consequence of the destruc- 
tion of the capitol by fire. It was then and there I first 
observed William Gaston. He was the centre of general at- 
tention, the cynosure of all eyes. So distinct is my recol- 
lection of him, I can see him now, as it were yesterday, 
sitting in front, a little to the left of the Speaker's chair, 
a grand old man, just touching the verge of venerable 
age, with finely chiseled, classic features, calm, contempla- 
tive thoughtful brow, and manly person; the scholarly 
stoop increasing rather than marring the effect of the 
iovi cnfsPmhIr. Personation of intellectual intelligence. 

"A combination, and a form., indeed, 
"Where every god did seem to set his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man." 



io6 grandfather's tales. 

I heard both his speeches upon the ''appropriation bill," 
as it was then called ; the bill which raised the question of 
the removal of the seat of government from Raleigh. His 
second speech was a master-piece of brilliant, elaborate, 
finished oratory. It was the first great speech to which 
I had ever listened, and I was borne on the top of the tide 
of admiration with which it was universally received. 
That speech, unfortunately, is not now preserved, and its 
reputation rests upon the insecure traditions of those who 
are fast passing away. 

His first speech was a Tuse de guerre; what, in the 
language of Isaac Walton, would be "a bait for a nibbler" ; 
in fowling phrase, "a coy duck" ; in the language of 
the ''ring," a "feint," to be followed by a stunning blow. 
It was a good speech, not remarkable; going just far 
enough, and not too far, for its purpose ; sometimes leav- 
ing a "castle exposed," and then carrying the war barely 
far enough to say "check your queen." 

There sat his antagonist, a dangerous man, an adver- 
sary not to be trifled with, who, by the preconcerted ar- 
rangement of his party friends, was the champion who 
was not te expend his ammunition upon small birds, but 
to reserve his fire for the larger game. 

" His hook was baited witli a dragon's tail, 
He sat upon a rock and bobbed for whale." 

According to legislative etiquette, it was said that Gas- 
ton was entitled to reply to tliis keen sportsman ; why, I 
do not know, not being learned in parliamentary dialectics ; 
but it was apparent that his antagonist was determined 
not to move until Gaston showed his hand. 

After the conclusion of Gaston's first speech, the mem- 
ber from Fayetteville proceeded to his work with the con- 
summate skill of an accomplished dialectician, using with 
admirable dexterity all the weapons of his well-furnished 
armory, dissoetinc' and eviscerating his opponent, to the 
infinite satisfaction of himself and his friends. But Gas- 



AN EVENING WITH WILLIAM GASTON. IO7 

ton's rejoinder gave him a Koland for his Oliver, and 
made Ealeigh the permanent seat of govermnent of North 
Carolina. 

1 next saw William Gaston about a year later upon the 
literary rostrum, and heard his admirable address to the 
graduating class at the University ; an address which has 
become a recognized standard of its class of literature, 
and M'hich, apart from its wise and salutary counsel, may 
be studied to advantage by those who wish to acquire "an 
English style, familiar but not coarse, elegant but not 
ostentatious." 

I next heard him, a few years later, upon perhaps the 
most memorable occasion of his life. It was in the 
Convention of 1835, in the debate upon what is known 
as the "thirty-second article." That discussion enlisted 
not only his patriotic, but his most earnest personal sym- 
pathies. One of the objects for which the Convention 
had been called was to consider the propriety of removing 
this article from the Constitution of the State. Although 
inoperative, it was regarded as a blur upon the charter, 
an odious imputation, if not a political disfranchisement 
of a meritorious class of citizens for their religious opin- 
ions ; and it was pointed to by the envious detractors of 
Gaston, who had high office under the Constitution with 
that article in it, as proof that his lust of place was 
stronger than his sense of honor. 

With these considerations weighinii' u]X)n him, he arose 
to address an assembly distinguished for wisdom, gravity 
and age, and for two days bound them as with a spell by 
a production which, in all that can convince the under- 
standing, charm the senses or move the heart, is unsur- 
passed in the annals of uninspired eloquence. 

I am altogether unable to convey an idea of the im- 
pression made upon my mind, then just budding into ma- 
turity, by that great effort. "Demosthenes for the crown," 
"Cicero against Cataline," were familiar from recent 
study ; "Burke against Warren TTastings" had been the 
delight of my boyhood ; "Webster in reply to Hayne" was 



io8 grandfathp:r's tales. 

jet rino-ing throuii'h(>nt the length and l)readth of the land ; 
but they liad all failed to tell me what ''the Old Man Elo- 
qnent" signified. Kever till then did I know what Gray 
meant when he sang, 

" The applause of listening Senates to command." 

i^ot till then did I know the gift which 

"Touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire." 

iSTot till then the wand which genius waves over men. It 
is now more than a third of a century since my heart- 
chords 'were swept by that master-hand; and many a 1:ouch 
from eloquent lips since then those chords have felt, but 
they vibrate still with the notes of that wondrous melody, 
and Avill vibrate ever 

•' — till my last of lines are penned 
And life's hopes, joys and sorrows at an end." 

The companion of my casual visit to Raleigh, above 
alluded to, was the fortunate heir of one of Gaston's old 
friendships, and had received many proofs of his friendly 
regard. In one of his visits during our sojourn, he ob- 
served that he had a young friend with him who was a 
warm admirer of his, and, if agreeable, he wo\dd be glad 
to introduce him at some moment of leisure. 

"Make my respects," said Gaston politely, ''and I shall 
be pleased to see you both at my office this evening at 8 
O'clock." 

Prompt to the time "as lovers to tlieir vows," we pre- 
sented ourselves at the appointed place, and I was formally 
introduced to him whose magic power ha<l wakened first 
my youthful dream of ii'lorv. 

We found there with Gaston a distiuii'iiishod citizen of 
the State; a man Avho, under any other circumstances and 
other association, would have been a recoonized great 
man ; one to whom nature had been niggard of her gifts 
of physical graces, but to Avhom an ample atonement had 



AN EVENING WITH WILLIAM GASTON. IO9 

been made for an ungainly person by bestowing some of 
iier rarest intellectual gems and imparting to them addi- 
tional lustre by contrast with the rough ore in which they 
had been cast. 

But all greatness is comparative. He bore to Gaston 
the same relation, to use the language of the smithery, 
that an excellent ''striker" does to the head blacksmith. 
And most opportunely for us was he there. For without 
him, who would have done the striking'/ Without him, 
the evening, instead of being to us a life-memory, would 
have been a dumb show, performed by one player and 
two mutes. But as it was, we had a most brilliant per- 
formance, a kind of duet, one playing upon "a harp of a 
thousand strings," and the other striking the triangle 
with musical taste and judgment. 

If this op])ortune friend was there by invitation, from 
kindness to us, it was most kind ; if there by invitation 
to take part in the exercises, it was most considerate of 
some one's reputation ; if there by accident, it was most 
fortunate. 

The conversation was at first u])on general topics, the 
proceedings of the Legislature, then in session; the eifect 
of certain measures then under consideration ; the charac- 
ter of its members, with occasional reference to those who 
had been prominent in the past legislative history of the 
State; the practical operation and effect of certain amend- 
ments to the C''onstitntion made by the Convention of 
1S35 and tlien l)ut recently ado])ted ; the growing tendency 
of our people to abandon their calm, conservative charac- 
ter, and to be carried away by the wild strife of political 
]iarties, and whicli, at the moment, impressed me with the 
idea that he was not quite up with tlio progressive spirit of 
the age. 

His style of conversation was ])cculiarly attractive; 
easy, graceful, tasteful and unostentatious; sometimes 
addressiuii' himself to us and niakimi; us feel that we were 
a part, though not magna, pars, of the performance. Our 
friend who eanie so opportunely, bestowed upon us, too, 



no grandfather's tales. 

{in occasional look from the corner of his eye, as if saying, 
'"and what are you doing here, you spalpeens ?" 

From an examination of the characteristics- of our own 
people, and comparison of their social condition with that 
of the population of some of our sister States, resulting 
from the influence of long-continned strife, the conversa- 
tion passed, by natural connection, to an examination of the 
condition, peculiarities and institutions of those States. 

Gaston had passed the preceding summer in a length- 
ened tour through the xSTorthern States and Canada, and 
the conclusions at which he had arrived from personal 
observation, and his description of natural scenery, were 
exceedingly interesting. 

ISTiagara Falls had long been a living picture tx3 my 
mind ; by fancy, by personal description, and by the 
painter and the poet's art. I had read innumerable de- 
scriptions of it; from Halleck's grand anthem (I think 
it is Halleck's) to him of the shears and goose, 

" Who had but one unending note, 
Gods, what a place to sponge a coat I " 

But none like Gaston's had impressed my mind so forci- 
bly with tlie grandeur of this great work of the Omnipo- 
tent; none had been so easy, so natural, so grand and yet 
so simple, so like the great work itself. His graphic de- 
scription impressed an animal vitality into the storied 
stream, as with easy self-possession he pictured the placid 
water moving smoothly on, and, just at the brinlv of the 
precipice, making a pause, as if unexpectedlv encountering 
a foe it could not conquer, and tlien ^vrithing in the agony 
of a moment's desperate determination before taking the 
awful plunge- 
He related an incident of th(^ ctreet produced upon an 
imtutored mind by this stupendous work of nature. He 
met at the falls an old college class-mate wliom he had 
not seen for many years — Judge Berrien, of Georgia — 
accompanied bv his two daughters and a faithful old fam- 
ilv servant whom the voune; ladies called "^lammv." 



AN EVENING WITH WILLIAM GASTON. Ill 

"We had all," said Gaston, ''been standing for some 
time near the cataract, gazing in silence upon the mightv 
^vork. The silence was broken by the old servant. 

" 'Missis,' said she to one of the young ladies, 'how 
long has this water been running here (' 

" 'Since the foundation of the world. Mammy." 

"And then pausing for a moment, the old woman con- 
ti]iued, 'and how long will it kee]i on running here, missis V 

" "Until the end of the Avorld." 

"Eaising her hands and eyes to heaven, with a manner 
which no art can imitate, she simply exclaimed, 'Great 
God Almighty !' " 

Many other subjects and incidents of his travels, dwelt 
Uj'jon by Gaston, were most delightful and instructive: 
his personal descriptions and delineations of character of 
the men of note he met, his contrast of society in Canada 
and the United States, his reflections upon the vanity of 
human greatness, suggested by certain amusing incidents 
of travel which occurred in his journey, and his recital of 
interviews and conversations with distinguished people. 

But I have already exceeded my original design, and 
must bring this paper to a close. 

I fear I have left the impression that my friend and I 
performed the part of simple mutes in the entertainments 
of the evening. If so, that impression is most erroneous 
and most unjust to our reputations. We were not con- 
spicuous, nnd we would not have been so. But we bore 
our part. We twain spoke one word. It was thus : 

During the summer at some watering-plaoe Gaston 
bar! met with Martin Van Buren, then in the zenith of his 
popnlarity and greatness, and wearing in triumph the 
hereditary honors of his "illustrious predecessor." He 
had much to say of the distinguished man, his political 
and personal character ; mentioning, among other things, 
that, in conversation with Chancellor Kent in reference 
to Van Buren's intellectual ability, he had contended that 
his pnblic career furnisher! no evidence of superior intel- 
lectual enrlo\\Tuents, but had been distiuGniished rather for 



112 grandfather's tales. 

the exhibition of those qualities of mind which are rarely, 
if ever, associated with executive ability ; that he had cited 
the opinion of David B. Ogden expressed to him in conver- 
sation, as corroborative of his own. , 

"Oh," said the Chancellor in reply, "Davy is warped by 
his political prejudices. Van Buren is a man of very supe- 
rior, positive ability. He practiced law before me for 
twenty years, and he always seized the strong points of his 
own case and tlie weak points of his adversary, and I take 
that to be proof of ability in any man." 

Gaston tlien proceeded to give his own estimate of Van 
Buren's character, pointing out some good features, but 
regarding him as distinguished by that quality which esti- 
mated the value of men according to their uses to himself. 

"He regards men," said he, "as I do these snuffers, 
^■alnal)l(' wlien needed, but after beino- used of no further 
value, until wanted again.'' 

Proceeding in his narrative, he referred to a toast sent 
by Van Buren in reply to an invitation to be present at 
some political demonstration. He was unable to recall 
the language of the toast. His inability to remember a 
certain word interrupted his narrative, and for a moment 
seemed to annoy him. Turninc; to our opportune friend, 
he said, "What was the word he used about 'hostility to 
the United States Bank?' You remember the toast." No 
response came. He turned unsatisfied away. 

He then turned toward us. As his eye traveled by me, 
I cauii'ht it. saw his troubled expression, and in a "still, 
snuill voice" T said — "Uncomiu'omising." 

"Yes," said he, addressing himself directly to me with 
a most benevolent expression which I can never forget, 
"uncompromising hostility to the Hnited States Bank," 
pnd then, in a tone and maimer which made me feel as if 
my father spoke it, he added, "we should be uncompro- 
inising Avith nothing but vice." 

One word more. William Gaston has now been dead 
many years. While he lived his position among his 
conntrvmen was as that of the son of Kish amons: the Phil- 



AN EVENING WITH WILLIAM GASTON. II 3 

istines. In any association he was truly a great man. I 
speak of him not as a lawyer, not as a judge, nor a states- 
man, nor an orator, writer, philosopher, or poet; but as 
a great representative man; representative of the excel- 
lencies of his race, the dignity of learning, the beauty of 
virtue, the worth of integrity and honor and uprightness 
of character ; the Christian graces, the kindly sympathies, 
the fraternal impulses of life, which alone impart to man 
his real manhood, and make him a reflex "image of his 
Maker.'' \"et, great as he was, no literary memorial com- 
mensurate with his real magnitude has yet been dedicated 
to his memory. 

There are those living who were his compeers ; who 
knew him best and admired him most, men every way com- 
petent to tell the story of his life; men distinguished by 
some of the same qualities which made up the sum of his 
exceeding greatness. Let them not by longer neglect 
inflict a foul wrong upon posterity. Let them look to it, 
as men who desire a place in the recollection of those who 
must pronounce their eulogy. 



114 grandfather's tales. 



INTERESTING NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY FOR 
OUR YOUTHFUL READERS. 

On Xorth Carolina soil Virginia Dare, the first child 
of English parents in America, was born. 

The first print of English footsteps ever made m Amer- 
ica was made in North Carolina in 1584, in the brightest 
period of English history. 

The first prayer of Christian worship ever uttered by 
Eno-lish lips in "America was uttered on Roanoke Island, 
in Dare County, North Carolina. The first ordinance of 
the Christian "^ religion ever celehrated by the English- 
speaking race in America was celehrated on North Caro- 
lina soil. 11- 

The first popular Legislative Assembly m America 
called hx the authority of the people, in defiance of royal 
authority and against' its protest, met in North Carolina, 
at New Bern, in August, 1774. 

The first blood shed by the people in America, m resist- 
ance with arms against the oppressive acts, power and 
authoritv of Great Britain, under a Governor appointed 
by King George of England, was North Carolina blood, 
at Alainance, in North Carolina. . n + 

The first open Declaration of Independence ol l^reat 
Britain made in America was the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence made bv the people of Mecklenburg County, at 
Charlotte, on the 20th of May, 1775. , . . 

The first purchaser, in America, of Indian lands lor a 
valuable consideration was made in Perquimans County 
bv George Durant from Kuskataneav, King of the Yeopim 
Indians; in 1GG3, nearly fifty years before the purchase 
by William Penn of the Pennslwania Indians. ^ ^ 

■ \fter these distinguished first historical events, is it 
not a iust claim of North Carolina that she is "the right- 
ful mother of the States?" Sir Walter Raleigh stands 
sentinel at the gatewav of her history, and following him 
she has an illustrious lineage down through her long his- 



INTERESTING NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY. 115 

tor J. Erom Mosely to Vance lier sons have lighted the bea- 
con tires of freedom. Her eminence in the Pantheon of his- 
tory is only equalled bj the modesty that accompanies 
true greatness. 'J'rue gi'eatness never seeks fame. The 
gi-eatest JS'orth Carolinian was the most modest and diffi- 
dent of men. He was a lawyer, and to the close of a long 
life always trembled when he first got up to speak. Gen- 
eral Washington was our greatest citizen, the most dis- 
tjng-uished and the most beloved. After the Kevolution- 
ciry War Congi'ess passed resolutions of compliment and 
thanks to him for his public service. He was present, 
and got up to reply, but his modesty overcame him, and 
he could not get along. Mr. Witherspoon, of New Jersey, 
^^. ^^^^^Scotch preacher, who was in Congress, rose and 
said: "Sit down, young man; your valor is only equalled 
by your modesty" — and then he replied for Washington. 
Distinction sits not gi-acefully on him who seeks it. ^'Of- 
fice sought me; I sought not ofiice," was the proud and 
just remark of William Gaston, when discussing the ques- 
tion of Catholic disability in its personal application to 
himself m the (Jonvention of jSTorth Carolina of 1835. 
Once when she was taunted by some noisy politicians with 
being a plain and slow State, that great'man replied that 
he hoped it would be long before she exchanged that 
for a more equivocal characteristic. The taunt came from 
our sister State of South Carolina, and the reply was in 
some respects a deserved rejoinder. Let us cling to our 
pand old State. Let us cherish her homely virtues, and 
let us also cherish the splendid position she deserves as 
"the Mother of the States." 



ii6 grandfather's tales. 



PASQUOTANK RIVER. 

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. 

— Keats. 

•'±\o MAIS' is a hero to his valet/' saith the old saw. To 
a great extent it is true, but it is nevertheless true also that 
])ropinquity and familiarity make the most brilliant ob- 
jects stale."^ familiarity breeds contempt, saith another 
old saw that is kindred to the first. 

We have known men in JSTorth Carolina that lost their 
legitimate claim to the dignity of greatness simply be- 
cause they were genial, vivacious and witty. George E. 
Badger was a many-sided great man, but threw away the 
major part of his grand heritage by his doggerel buf- 
foonery. 

Chief Justice Smith, who was an observant man, as 
Avell as a big law^yer in his time, once told us when ^ye 
were young lawyers together, that Mr. Badger was a bril- 
liant and superior man, a great lawyer and an astute lo- 
gician, but there was some flaw in the material or manu- 
facture of his greatness that marred its s^nnmetry. We 
suggested tluitthe defect was that he was too good an 
actor ill low comedy for a matured great man. Webster, 
who was fond of Badger wlicn they were in the United 
States Senate together, once told Badger, when he was 
playing buffoon for the entertainment of Webster nu(l a 
little circle of Senators, that he was the "most magnifi- 
cent trifler that he had ever known." The remark of 
Wel>ster was a ten-strike, and a word photograph of Mr. 
Badger. 

A young friend who was the greatest genius as a boy and 
youuo" man we ever met. could say more funny and witty 
and -^mart things than we ever heai'd from human lips. 
He had the gift of greatness in a remarkable decree. He said 
to us in the last conversation we ever had witli him that 
lie had been a failure in life, and he knew why. He made 
men laugh too much ; that dull men laughed at and pitied 



PASQUOTANK RIVER. II7 

liim; that if he had his life to work over, he would put 
an owl on liis mantel to be an object-lesson to him to look 
wise and saj little; that Cowper's ''Jackdaw in a Church 
Steeple" did not fill the bill half as well as a big-ejed, 
wise-looking, far-seeing and rellective screech owl. 

PardoiDicz-hwi Au inouton; which means, halt; you're 
ofi" your head, come back to the first station. You s'^et out 
to tell us about the Pasquotank River, and yon wandered 
to George Badger and your young friend, and they never 
saw Pasquotank River. We have paused to consider the 
connection between the river and the great men marred by 
the frivolities of genius. We've got it. Tt all turned on 
familiarity, and how it belittles men and things. 

We have known Pasquotank River from our earliest 
manhood. We have bathed in its amber waters. We 
hiwe swallowed the nectar of its jimbrosial current. We 
have gazed listlessly upon the shadows of the magnificent 
cy])ress giants that guard its banks. We have wreathed 
fancy stories from the weird pictures drawn by the setting 
sun. But we saw it every day, went up and down it 
many times, until we became its valet, and the evening 
shadows and the glowing sunrise and the weird pictures 
cast by the dying sun made no more impression upon us 
than any every-day object of nature. 

^ Once, it has now been fifteen or twentv years, we were 
sitting alone in our editorial sanctum, enjoying a pleas- 
ant surcease of toil, when a handsome boy of apparently 
ten or twelve summers came in and asked for a copy of 
the city paper. After giving him the paper, we fell 'into 
conversation, and he told us that his father and mother 
and himself were from Lexington, Ky., where his father 
pul^lished a magazine called the Kentucky Stock Farm, 
and that they were on a visit to this part of ISTorth Carolina 
to see the country. As he left, we sent word to his 
father to call in and see us. 

Duriuir the dav his father called. He was courtly, in- 
tellifijent and interestins:. He had come from Kentucky 
to ISTorfolk, and thence via the canal and the Pasquotank 



lib grandfather's tales. 

Kiver to Elizabeth City. He had come over the evening 
before, lie was enthusiastic in his admiration of Pas- 
quotank Kiver, its grand weird scenery, the gigantic for- 
est growth of cypress trees, the varied aspects of serpen- 
tine bends, succeeded by long sweeps of straight currents. 
He had traveled much, and he compared it with the his- 
toric rivers at home and abroad. He said that its floral 
beauties (it was in Mayj were unrivalled in the world. 
He dwelt upon its amber crested waves and its dense soli- 
tudes in which nature maintained its supremacy. He 
compared it with the famed Hudson, and gave the supe- 
riority to the Carolina river that was the pau-kandle and 
reservoir of the Great Dismal Swamp. 

And then we recounted to him some of the strange 
legends of its history. How it was the favorite rendezvous 
of l^each, the famous Carolina pirate, who was the terror 
of the Carolina and Virginia coasts in the early years of 
the eighteenth century^ and who made his headquarters at 
the head of one of those long straight stretches of the river 
that commanded a lengthened view and gave notice of the 
approach of an enemy. And when we told him of the 
"Old Brick House," its history, and its date of 1700 on 
the old bricks, and of the blood spots on the floors of 
tM^o rooms of tlie house, mute and ineffaceable witnesses of 
the tragic scenes that they commemorated, his curiosity 
was excited as we had not seen before, and he expressed 
great desire to see with his own eyes tlie scene of the dread 
orgies. 

Since then we have seen the river much and often in 
its varied aspects of scenery, and have thought more and 
more that it is distance which gives enchantment to a 
view, and that familiarity robs it of its gorgeous plumage. 
The eye that looks daily upon Niagara and hears its lion 
roar, thinks of it as a p'ood site for a laundry or a cotton 
factory, while the unfamiliar eye exclaims, "Great God 
Almighty !" and turns in mute adoration toward the Al- 
mighty Architect and Bnildcr. 



GASTON IN THE CONVENTION OF 1 835. II 9 



GASTON IN THE CONVENTION OF 183S. 

When he speaks, the air, a chartered libertine, is still. 

— Shakespear. 

The name of Judge Gaston awakens in our memory a 
reminder of that great man, and recalls to us some events 
in his distinguished career. His life was an eminent 
success, a succession of brilliant achievements in civil life, 
won by genius, character and assiduous labor, without the 
adventitious aids of revolutions or arms. His triumphs 
were truly the triumphs of peace, the triumphs of in- 
tellectual contest, and we purpose to briefly recall one of 
those occasions which probably summoned all the weapons 
of his well-equipped intellectual armory. 

Judge Gaston was the central figure of the Convention 
of 1835, confessedly the ablest and most distinguished 
body of men that has ever assembled in ISTorth Carolina to 
deliberate upon the affairs of State. Nat. Macon was 
President, having retired from long and distinguished 
public service in the l^ational councils. Judge Daniel, 
of the Supreme Bench of Korth Carolina, and several 
Judges of the Superior Courts, were also members, 
and ex-members of Congress were in large number. Cru- 
dup, of Granville, and Sam Carson, of Burke, both of 
whom wore distinguished in public life. Jesse Wilson 
was one of the delegates from Perquimans, Joseph B. 
Skinner from Chowan, Judge Bailey from Pasquotank, 
Governor Swain from Buncombe, and indeed, the most con- 
spicuous men were sent from all tlie counties. The State 
was greatly excited over the basis of representation, the 
eastern part of the State holding the control of power by 
the property qualification, and the west complaining vio- 
lently that ])opulation was not made the bnsis. The Con- 
vention was 'a body of limited political poAvers, but there 
were other questions submitted to its consideration besides 
the basis of representation. 

iSTot the least attractive of these questions to which the 
Convention was limited, was the religious disability ques- 



I20 GRANDFATHER S TALES. 

tioii, wliicii was embraced in the tliirty-second article of 
the old Constitution, which was adopted in 1776. That 
article disqualified for office in North Carolina ''all who 
denied the existence of God or the truth of the Protestant 
religion." That article doubtless interested Judge Gas- 
ton more than any subject that was to be brought l)efore 
the Convention. The design of the article unquestionably 
was to disqualify Roman Catholics from holding office in 
North Carolina. It was to Judge Gaston a delicate personal 
question, a question of conscience and honor. He was a 
devoted Catholic in religious faith. He was a Judge of 
the Supreme Court of the State, and in assuming the duties 
of his high office had sworn to support the Constitution of 
North Carolina, with the thirty-second article excluding 
fr(im office those who "denied the truth of the Protestant 
religion" in it. Gaston was sensitive to honor and chi- 
valrous in character. He was of distinguished ancestry, 
and nurtured in the most cultured, refined and distin- 
guished circles of New Bern's elegant society. His own per- 
sonal honor was on trial, and was involved in the decision 
of the Convention. The thirty-second article must have 
been to him the great question before the Convention, and 
it was natural that he should have been, as he was, grave, 
thoughtful, absorbed, wrapped in the communings of his 
own thoughts as the deliberations of the Convention went 
on. 

For the ten days that we, then a youth just returning 
from the University, attended the sessions of the Conven- 
tion, in the Presbyterian church in Paleio-h, Judge Gas- 
ton always occupied the same seat, a little to the right and 
not far removed from the chair of the President. To our 
\outhful imagination, he was the embodiment of intel- 
lectual greatness. He seemed apart. He was courteous, 
but not familiar, exchanged few words with those near 
him, and never indulged in pleasantry. The thirty-sec- 
ond article was not taken up earlv in the session. The 
suffrage question bad been up, and Gastrm had been con- 
spicnons, able and conciliatory in the debate. 



GASTON IN THE CONVENTION OF 1835. 121 

When Ave came to llaieii^'li and went to the sessions of 
the Convention witii our boj' friends, O. O. Battle and 
Henry W. ±\J.iller, both deceased, the thirty-second article 
was under discussion, and public interest was greatly ex- 
cited. The hall of the Convention was crowded with vis- 
itors and ladies. Distinguished men and the oi polloi 
were all out. J udge Sewell, Dr. Smith of Orange, Crudup 
of Granville, Judge Daniel, and several others, had spoken 
as the days wore on; Gaston sat in profound thought, 
head bent down, arms sometimes folded, always vigi- 
lant. We well remember the indignant rebuke he once 
launched upon Judge Sewell, who was his enemy and un- 
successful rival for the honor of the Supreme Court, at a 
personal reference to Mr. Gaston and his occupancy of a 
place on the Bench. Most of the speeches had been in 
favor of retaining the thirty-second article, and the senti- 
ment of the Convention was apparently the same way. 

When the subject had become somewhat exhausted, Gas- 
ton arose slowly, with great deliberation, amid breathless 
silence, and for two days riveted the attention of all pres- 
ent by a speech which is unequalled in our memory. He 
showed fatigue after speaking the first day, and a motion 
was made by Mr. Wilson, of Perquimans, for adjourn- 
ment, but upon some manifestation of opposition to the 
motion, on account of the rapt attention, Mr. Gaston com- 
menced to resume his speech ; but the motion was renewed 
when it was seen that Gaston needed rest. The next day the 
speech was resumed and continued to the regular ad- 
journment. The fate of the thirty-second article was seen 
before the speech was concluded ; and upon the question of 
amendment beina- submitted, it was carried, we think, 
very larg-elv. 

Had that speech never been made the thirty-second arti- 
cle would probably now be a stain upon our Constitution. 
The spoocli was a masterlv one, and probably the most 
labored effort of Gaston's life. All his powers were 
worker] up to their utmost energy, and every power of 
moviuii' men's minds by speech was brought into roqui- 



122 GRANDFATHER S TALES. 

sition. It was powerful in argument. His position that 
one could disbelieve in Ir'rotestantism and yet believe the 
"truth of the Protestant religion," was exceedingly tine 
and ingenious, and also his position that the thirty-second 
article, when rigidly interpreted, would exclude Dunkards 
and Quakers as well as Catholics. His humor, in illus- 
trating the common ignorance of the Catholic religion, by 
a conversation about the meaning of a "fetheral" (a Fed- 
eralist) w^as inimitable, and placed him in the foremost 
rank of great actors. His appeal to all Christians for 
charity in the name of a common Christianity, was equal 
to any of the masterpieces of English composition. 

But to our mind, when the speech was delivered and 
now, the most captivating and stirring passages were the 
personal parts relating to himself, and which do not appear 
in the reported and published speech as taken down in 
shorthand by Joe Gales at the time. 

After adducing conclusive proof that the article under 
consideration was obscure, if not positively inoperative, 
he turned to the Convention and made a most powerful 
appeal to them to make the Constitution of the "good old 
State" clear and explicit. And then, addressing himself 
to the proposition that they should make the article a 
clear and plain disqualification of Catholics, he said, 
in tones that touched all liearts, that he had not deter- 
mined what he should do, but he could not move among 
his countrymen, to whom he had devoted his heart's af- 
fections and the best years of his life, "with an infamous 
brand upon his forehead" ; and as he closed the sentence he 
slapped his hand upon his forehead and marched with a 
step that was the personation of majesty a short distance 
among the members near him. 

It was a grand scene that time can never efface. 



GAVIN HOGG. I23 



GAVIN HOGG. 



The Bar in the Edenton district has always held a 
distinguished place in the history of North Carolina. Be- 
fore the Kevolution Mosely had a reputation as a leading 
lawyer, and before and after the Revolution Governor 
Johnston had the name of a great jurist. Doubtless there 
were others whose names do not occur to us. After the 
Revolution came the Iredells, father and son, names long 
honored in our district and the State; the Blairs, the 
Cummings, and others. Some of these are mentioned by 
the first Waightstil Avery, the founder of the Avery 
family, in his diary, when he passed through this section 
of the State, from Connecticut, before the Revolution. In 
his diary he chronicles the fact that those members of the 
bar in Edenton to whom he had letters of introduction 
were sceptics, or free-thinkers, in religious matters ; in 
which respect we are glad to chronicle that our Edenton 
brethren of the present day are not tlieir counterpart, 
but contrariwise are very proper men. 

Later down into the post-revolutionary period, we reach 
the time in the early nineteenth century when Gavin 
Hogg commenced his career at the bar in Bertie County, 
then a poor and briefless barrister, afterward an acknowl- 
edged chief, and a formidable rival of Gaston, not in 
culture and acquirements, but in rugged, stalwart power as 
a great lawyer. It may encourage some of our younger 
brethren who are disposed to repine at their hard lot and 
to shrink from the rugged pathwav of earlv professional 
life, to give a little incident of IIo2;g's entrance upon the 
profession. It was related to us by tlie venerable Jona- 
than Tayloe, when over eighty years of nge. as having 
come under his personal observation. Hoga; was bom, we 
have understood, at Chapel Hill of poor parentage. He 
was of Irish lineage. Having his law license, he went 
down into the eastern part of ISTorth Carolina in search 
of a place to "locate." He drove up to the tavern in 
Windsor in a single-stick gig, after a lono- and fatiguing 



124 grandfather's tales. 

(lay's ride, without niouey and without the acquaintance 
of any one in the place, lie interviewed the landlord 
pretty soon, told him his business, told him he had no 
money and no friends, showed him his license, said he 
meant work, and wanted board and would pay him if he got 
work, and if not he would not pay him. The landlord, 
whose name we regret that we can not recall, upon the 
faith of his mission and his candor, welcomed him cor- 
dially, gave him his board until he could pay, invited 
him, as was the custom of the ]jeriod, to take something, 
which he declined ; and Hogg commenced his life-work, 
which knew no step backward, until in old age he retired 
from the profession, the peer of the great ones, wealthy, 
respected and honored. 

Gavin Hogg was of large person, with a fine, massive 
head that would have made Fowler and Wells happy, and 
an eye like Mars. In manner he was grave, reserved, 
austere and forbidding, wrapped in the solitude of his 
own meditations. According to the testimony of our best 
lawyers, the ablest brief that the Supreme Court Reports 
of N^orth Oarolina shoAv was ])reparod by Gavin Hogg. 
Personally he was unpopular. But in tlio war of 1812 
he raised a company in Bertie, of wliicli lio was Captain, 
and was at the ''Battle of Craney Island," near Xorfolk, 
Va., and he was a very popular officer. It is related tliat 
in his old age, after he had retired from tlic 1)ar and was 
a wealthy and honored man, he went to Windsor from 
Raleigh, to which place he had removed Avhen his reputa- 
tion was establislied and acknowledii'ed, and strove to be 
affable and familiar with his old friends and clients 
among whom he had settled when poor and briefless, but 
they could not be familiar M'itli him. He died in Raleigh 
at an advanced affe about the vear 1837. 



JAMES ALLKN. 125 



JAMES ALLEN. 

JxVMES AiiLEN^ of Windsoi'j Bertie County, has left a 
greater impression upon the public mind for gigantic in- 
tellect than any man who has been at the bar of the 
Edenton circuit. His head was the embodiment of in- 
tellect, high, massive base, rising like a dome, with au 
eye of remarkable brilliancy, and a person below the me- 
dium height, but of considerable rotundity, not unlike 
the celebrated Judge Douglas, of Illiuois. He was a 
poor boy in the town of Windsor, neglected, untrained, 
]iis father following the sea and taking but little care of 
his son. His brightness and remarkable head attracted 
the attention of Thomas .V. Turner, an eccentric but in- 
tellectual and observant old bachelor of Windsor, who 
persuaded him to go to school at his expense. He proba- 
bly made rapid proficiency at school, for at au early age 
he walked to Washington City, during the administra- 
tion of General Jackson, to solicit an appointment as 
cadet at the Military Academy at West Point, having a 
letter to Governor Branch, wlio was then Secretary of the 
Navy in the Cabinet of General Jackson. Governor 
Branch introduced him to the President, who, it is said, 
looked at him, asked him some few questions, and, upon 
the faith of his pluck in walking to Washington and, 
doubtless, his intellectual head, old Hickory appointed 
him a cadet-at-large. He went to West Point, where he 
took the very highest stand, being in the class with Gen- 
eral I_.ee, of the Confederate service, "and graduating equal 
first with Henry Clay, who fell in the Mexican War, son 
of the illustrious Kentuckian. The on dit of the time was 
that Allen was a better matliematician and a better scholar 
than Clay but that his father's influence made him Allen's 
equal. Tt is said that General Lee enquired for his old 
classmate during the Confederate War, hut he was dead 
some years lief ore. 

After grarluatinG,-, Alh'u reuiainerl iu the army a few 
years, aud tliere appearing no jirospect in the profession 



126 grandfather's tales. 

of arms but a life of inglorious ease, he resigned and re- 
turned to Windsor, to enter upon the legal profession. 
Having obtained his license, he rose at once to the front 
rank and acquired a good practice. He was a purely 
logical speaker, speaking in a plain, unostentatious man- 
ner, but with most convincing effect. He dealt in pure 
reason, but no man was more convincing to a jury. His 
speeches showed a powerful mind. He had in some de- 
gree the humorous faculty, which he sometimes indulged 
and wnth great effect. In the Harrison campaign of 1840, 
he sometimes took part as a Whig, and always spoke with 
convincing power. He was at a large district convention 
of the Whig party, at Edenton, in 1840, which was at- 
tended by Outlaw, Cherry, Paine and other prominent 
leaders, and no one spoke with more effect, or was a greater 
favorite with the audience, than James Allen. 



ETHNOLOGY. 1 27 



ETHNOLOGY. 

For we are the same our fathers have been, 
We see the same sights our fathers have seen. 
We drink the same streams, and view the same sun. 
And run the same course our fathers have run. 

— AtiOH. 

Perhaps no subject in the vast range of thought pos- 
sesses more interest for man than the history of man. The 
jioet was right when he announced, "The proper study 
of mankind is man." Man is man's most favorite and 
interesting study, and mysterious as is his moral and in- 
tellectual nature, his physical nature and history is as 
much or more so. Whence he came, or how he came, 
whether he sprang into existence with all his faculties 
perfect and entire at the fiat of the Omnipotent; whether 
coeval with the earth which is his dwelling-place, or 
subsequently placed there to till and dress it and to be 
monarch of the vast domain ; whether starting from the 
lichens and the mosses, he has gone on in the slow progress 
of improvement until he has developed into a Caesar or 
Napoleon; whether one man and one woman "created He 
them," or whether of many types and races ; are still 
questions puzzling and mysterious, taxins- to their utmost 
power, and beyond their power, the philosophic acumen 
of the learned and the curious, and will ever remain 
mysterious, until by a new development and a higher and 
holier and more intelligent existence our eyes shall be 
opened and all things be made plain. 

Leaving the question of man's origin, other questions 
as mysterious crowd upon the imagination and tax the 
burdened thought. The origin of races, the migration of 
races, the extinction of races, the amalgamation of races ; 
whether the progress of the human race is the great pur- 
pose of God, or progress and retrocession be the law of 
His mysterious providence ; whether in our enlightened 
period we have not forgotten as well as learned ; whether 
the age of Pericles and the Athenians was not superior in 



128 grandfather's tales. 

arts, in letters, in physical development and manhood to 
the vauntad developments of the twentieth century j 
w^hether the mechanical skill which reared the Pyramids 
in the desert as a mausoleum for the Ptolemys, thousands 
on thousands of years gone by, has ever been ec^ualled in 
the long line of ages since — these perplexing questions, 
full of mystery and doubt, leave us as they found us, 
groping blindly, bewildered and unsatisfied. 

Turning to our own country we hnd new and actually 
mysterious pages in the history of man's unlearned lesson 
of man. Our nursery books tell us that Christopher 
Columbus discovered America in the year 1492, and that he 
found the country peopled by an aboriginal and strange 
race whom he called Indians. The Indians the aboriginal 
race ! They were the creatures of yesterday. Ages before 
them there existed on this continent a race that lived in 
towns and cities, tliat cultivated the arts of a superior civil- 
ization peculiar to themselves, a race that has left no writ- 
ten memorials, but whose unwritten history is traced in its 
fortifications that show engineering skill, in its walls of 
masonry, and its tumuli, in which were deposited the re- 
mains and relics of the dead. How long this race ant&- 
chited the discovery of Columbus is left to conjecture to 
determine. They probably existed at a very remote pe- 
riod of history, or belonged to the pre-historic period. 
Their principal settlements were in the valleys of the 
Ohio and Mississippi and along the great lakes, where 
they lived in fortified towns, constructed walls and raised 
mounds for the sepulture of their dead. There is little 
doubt that numy of them dwelt in x^orth Carolina, but 
tlie indications are, from the absence of fortifications, 
that tliey did not make it their permanent dwelling place, 
or that the other races were subjugated to their will. 

The evidences of the existence of this ancient race in 
North (Carolina are found chiefly in the county of Mitch- 
ell. In the forests of this county, in the valleys, along 
the crests of tlic hills, arc found numerous pits, generally 



ETHNOLOGY. 1 29 

about ten feet in diameter, now nearly filled up and upon 
many of them a large full-grown forest growth. These 
pits have been excavated, and the examinations made have 
given the conclusion that they were unsuccessful explora- 
tions in search of precious metals. Other pits of larger 
size are also found in the same county. One, called the 
Sink Hole, near the JSTorth Toe Eiver, eight miles from 
Bakersville, forty feet deep and about the same diameter, 
has been opened and worked beyond is original depth, and 
mica found in sufficient quantities to make the labor remu- 
nerative. During the excavation some of the tools used 
in the original excavation were found, and also a tunnel 
connecting with other shafts. The tunnel was only four- 
teen inches wide, indicating that it was worked by a 
diminutive race of men. 

A series of these pits is found in the same county on 
Cane Creek, and also on North Toe River, near the Turn- 
pike. All of these pits have been profitably worked for 
mica during the last few years. 

These are the forest records of a race of whom history 
or tradition has furnished us no mementoes, a race that 
had made some progress in the arts of civilized life< — a 
race that had some knowledge of engineering, who built 
cities, raised fortifications, waged wars, mined into the 
bow^els of the earth to procure the means of carrying on 
the peaceful traffic of commerce — a race fashioned after 
the same Maker and endowed with the same passions with 
ourselves, who mourned their dead and laid them with 
sepulchral honors in mounds reared to their memories, 
where they too were laid, and all have passed away with- 
out a trace to tell the story of their being, save the mys- 
terious record of their labors dug by their strong arms 
into the eternal hills. 

"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers ; 
the moon and stars which Thou hast ordained : 

"What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ? and the 
son of man, that Thou visitost him?" 



130 CxRandfather's tales. 



THE CONVENTION OF 1835. 

The earth hath bubbles as the water hath. 

— Banquo. 

The iSJorth Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1835 
is generally acknowledged to have been the ablest body of 
men that ever met in the State. It was probably as im- 
portaitt a body as ever met. It was the climax of a con- 
troversy that had long agitated the whole State, and of 
the angry feeling tliat was engendered between Eastern 
and Western iS'orth Carolina, which at one time threat- 
ened civil convulsion. The subject of controversy that 
gave rise to the Convention was the basis of representa- 
tion, the west contending that population should be more 
largely represented, and the east that a conservative con- 
stitution should make property largely the basis. In 1823 
and '24 the agitation was most intense. Under the old 
post-revolutionary constitution at Halifax, the eastern 
representation was largely predominant, based as it was 
u]ion ])roperty, and they persistently resisted all increase 
of western representation. The west was constantly ap- 
plying to the Legislature for a division of their large 
counties, which was as frequently refused by the eastern 
majority. The direct object was to make the business 
of the west more convenient to the people of the counties, 
the indirect object was to give Western North Carolina 
the majority in the General Assembly, and thereby call 
a Convention to change the basis of representation. Western 
2^orth Carolina was then chiefly composed of a hardy race 
of rough bear hunters, without ]iroperty and without cul- 
ture. Their representatives generally were men like them- 
selves. Their applications for redress were unheeded, and 
their representatives were objects of derision; but they 
increased in numbers, and their numbers were a constant 
menace to their more wealthy and more cultured eastern 
lirethren. Joliu Stanly, of T^Tow Bern, was the champion 
of the east, and was unsparing: in the use of all the wea- 
pons of sarcasm in his W('ll-0(]nip]H'(l armory, upon the 



THE CONVENTION OF 1835. I3I 

western members who came to Ealeigh in their best cow- 
colored homespun clothes. But in 1S24 western Carolina 
issued a protest, signed by Charles Fisher, Bartlett Yan- 
cey and other leading western men, which thrilled the 
State by threats of revolutionary separation, and ulti- 
mately led the east to pass the act calling a Convention to 
amend the Constitution. 

That Convention was a stormy one. It made changes 
in the basis of representation and other articles of the old 
Constitution. It was composed of able men, antago- 
nistic in sectional interests, and it came to represent oppo- 
site sectional ideas. The west was armed in the justness 
of their claim, and their delegates were more aggressive 
and violent in the expression of their opinions. Some- 
times, while the Convention was in session, secession from 
the body by western men was imminent. But for the 
kind, moderate and fraternal words of that great Carolin- 
ian, William Gaston, of New Bern, we think that violent 
and revolutionary methods would have been resorted to. 
His words, heard when a youth, addressed to western men 
aflame with passion, yet ring in our ears — "My friends — 
and surely mine to you is no unfriendly voice — " and 
how well do we remember his rejoinder to Governor Swain, 
who gave Scriptural illustration to western revolution- 
ary sentiment. Governor Swain, in a closing burst of 
passionate eloquence, said: "Unless our demands are 
granted, unless our wrongs are righted, we will rise like 
the strong man in his unshorn might and pull down the 
pillars of the political temple." The allusion was a happy 
one and happily applied, and appreciated, and the western 
delegates "rolled it," in their speeches, "under their 
tongues," as a "sweet morsel," always giving credit to the 
"distingnislicd gentleman from Buncombe." After some 
days, Gaston, who had been silent in the debate on the 
"basis," rose to speak, and after ably discussing the sub- 
ject at length, paused and said, substantiallv : "The dis- 
tinguished member from Buncombe has said that 'unless 
the wrono-R of our western brethren are redressed, they 
will rise like the strono: man in his imshorn mi^ht and 



132 grandfather's tales. 

pull down the pillars of the political temple.' The strong 
man, the son of Manoah, was brought out to make sport 
for the enemies of his country at the impious feast of 
JJagon. He tugged and pulled the massive pillars of the 
temple and buried all in one hideous ruin. It was a great 
and ;i glorious docd. He fell a martyr and a hero, vic- 
toriotis among the slain." Gaston had read the Bible 
more thoughtfully than Swain. 



JOSEPH B. SKINNER. 

An all-rouud man. 

—Old Saw. 

Perhaps the most distinguished lawyer in the district 
after Hogg, and contemporary with him in his early profes- 
sional life except the younger James Iredell, whose his- 
tory Wheeler has already written, w^as Joseph B. Skinner, 
of .Edenton. There are remarkable men that float along on 
the tide of time that are without a pai-allel. Mr. Skinner 
was such a man. He was born in Perquimans County, 
in Harvey's Neck, and was the son of Joshua Skinner, a 
hard-Avorking and well-to-do farmer, who raised his sons 
to hard work and plain living. He gave indications at an 
early period of uncommon brightness, and an uncle of 
his determined that he should have the advantage of mental 
training. He had already learned the elements of edu- 
cation at the common schools. In a conversation that 
tliis uncle had with liis brother Joshua, he was heard to 
say : "I see in this boy the future hope of our family," 
Through the influence of his uncle he was, after proper 
preparation, sent to Princeton College, where he gradu- 
ated at an early age, and where he was the contemporary of 
Gaston. After graduation he studied law, at Hayes, the 
seat of Governor Johnston, and after obtaininsi: his law 
license, eutororl u])ou t1ie practice of liis ]u-ofopsiou with 



JOSEPH B. SKINNER. 133 

Jiliii'ence. He was de\'oted to businesSj at all times iu his 
office, early and late, making his business his sole pur- 
suit, making all things secondary to it — the social cour- 
tesies of life, the demands of pleasure, the calls of wealthy 
or distingaiished persons. In the town of Edenton, where 
he practiced law, his attention to business attracted uni- 
versal attention. Mr. Collins, the wealthiest man in the 
})lace, called at his office for a social call while Mr. Skinner 
was engaged in business, and he did not notice Mr. Col- 
lins. He left unnoticed, and always after employed Skin- 
ner in all his business. His attention to business won 
the rich man. J\Ir. Skinner did a large and lucrative 
practice from Currituck to Chowan, and over the sound. 
He acquired fortune by his practice. At about fifty-five 
years of age he retired from practice and went on a farm 
one mile from Edenton, where he passed the remainder 
of his life in the enjoyment of all the comforts which 
ample fortune could give. It was said by some that the 
rivalry and superior attainments of the younger Iredell 
drove him from the bar. However this may have been, 
Mr. Skinner was in the full enjoyment of a large prac- 
tice when he retired. 

He was not an eloquent sjieaker, iu the jiopular sense, 
but no man spoke more lucidly ; in fact, that was the 
striking characteristic of his mind, the clearness with which 
he conceived any subject and his plain manner of stating 
any pro])Osition. His humor was also a striking charac- 
teristic, and he was master of the whole armor of ridi- 
cule. His judgment was unerring, and his confidence in 
it gave a boldness to liis operations in business that sur- 
prised every one with his success. He engaged largely 
in fishing on both sides of the Albemarle Sound with emi- 
nent success. He was probably the best and most pro- 
gressive farmer in the counties of Chowan and Perqui- 
mans, where ho owned lara:e possessions. He was an aris- 
tocrat, and exclusive in his social intercourse; but he Avas 
kind nnd liberal to the poor, aided meritorious voiuig 
men who needed assistance, and his knowledge of men 



134 grandfather's tales. 

was so accurate that his judgment never failed in his esti- 
mate of men. 

Mr. Skinuer was a man of rare humor and foresight, 
and his humor frequently entered into his business cal- 
culations. 

On one occasion he was very anxious that the minister 
in charge of old "St. Paul's" Church, in Edenton, of 
which he was a member, should have an increase of salary. 
At that time tlie salary of the minister Avas made up by 
the renting of the pews. He attended the renting, and 
finding tliat the bids were low and would not realize such 
a salary as he wished, he commenced running up the bids 
on all that were put up to such a sum as be thought neces- 
sary to make up the salary of the clergyman. When he 
bad bid oif some dozen or more, some one, in surprise, 
ventured to ask him wbat he was bidding off so many pews 
for. He said he bid them off for bis negroes, and in- 
tended that they should attend church and occupy them. 
They knew that he would do it, and the white members 
of the churcb soon took them off his hands and bid higher 
on the others. 

He was once sitting in his parlor writing a letter of 
instructions to a manager of one of his farms in Perqui- 
mans, and his overseer, Jas. Cannon, was waiting in the 
room for Mr. Skinner to finish writing, when a knock was 
beard at the outer door. The visitor was invited into the 
room. It was the period of clock-peddlers, a class of men 
that were the persistent representatives of the book agents 
of our time. The visitor was a clock peddler. He came 
into the parlor, brin2:iu£: his clock with him. "Buy a 
clock tliis mornino', sir?" asked the peddler, before offer- 
ing the customary salutation. "Don't wish one," said 
Skinner, without raising his head from his writing:." Pirst-- 
rate time-keeper," said the peddler, setting his clock to 
strikinir; "Double pendulum, brass mounting, full ring, 
no cheat, let me put lier up for you, sir." "Don't want 
your clock, sir," said Skinner, continuins: to write. "Come, 
now, do buy, keep jjood time, all right for fifteen dollars," 
snifl tho peddler, the c]nok all the time ringing out. "ting. 



JOSEPH B. SKINNER. I35 

ting, ting, ting" — "jSTo mistalce in her, sir." Mr. Skinner 
slowlj raised liis head from his paper, and in his slow 
and deliberate tones, said: "Cannon, tell Eden, and Little 
Jack, and Big Bob, and Peter Mike, and Slab Toot Jim, 
to come here." Meanwhile the peddler kept on an end- 
less fiisilade of recommendations, the clock all the while 
keeping music, ''ting, ting, ting." The order was no sooner 
given than obeyed. The live strapping negro fellows came 
in to receive the order, the clock and the peddler in full 
crj. "Boys," said Mr. Skinner, "take that clock peddler 
and put him in his wagon and send him off." No sooner 
was the order given than it was obeyed, to the peddler's 
utter astonishment and despite his violent struggles to re- 
lease himself. Skinner, looking at Cannon with an arch 
expression, said: "Cannon, d — n the fellow, how he kicks," 
Mr. Skinner died about the year 1850, being over sev- 
enty years old, of rheumatic gout. He had been a great 
sufferer for years. He left a large estate. He requested 
that the Book of Common Prayer should be placed upon 
his breast, and the Bible, open at the Book of Job, by his 
side, before his burial. 



136 grandfather's tales. 



JUDGE R. H. HEATH. 

If we knew tlie woe and heartache 
Waiting for u.s down the road, 
Would we waste tlie day in wisliing 
For a time that ne'er can be? 

— Anon. 

There arrived in Edenton from New Hampshire, on a 
schooner from Boston, a young man, a stranger, without 
pecuniary means, slender of person, modest and retiring 
in demeanor, seeking employment. He was an educated 
man, and appeared to have graduated at Dartmouth Col- 
lege, The Trustees of Edenton Academy, hospitable to 
merit, employed him as an assistant in that institution, to 
Jos. H. Saunders, who was principal in the flourishing 
institution. That man was Robt. E. Heath, afterward a 
Judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina. He 
remained in that employment for three or four years, ex- 
hibiting a social and agreeable disposition and becoming 
a favorite in the community. During this period he 
was engaged, in an irregular and desultory manner, in 
studying law with George W. Barney, who had, some 
years before, come to Edenton from New Hampshire, and 
had acquired wealth by his law practice and by marriage, 
and who, later, dishonored the profession of which he 
was a conspicuous member. One fine morning the boys 
who were his pupils were startled by the news that their 
teacher had gone to Raleigh to be made a lawyer. They 
whistled aloud and put their fingers on their nose, for 
none of them knew that their schoolmaster was studying 
law. However, at that period "honors were easy," and 
the Supreme Court ground all the grist that M-as brought 
to the mill. He came back, after some days, a lawyer, 
and the boys, always on the lookout for knowledge, heard 
that all the law that he carried to the mill was stuffed into 
him by Barnev. who was a good lawyer, as they rode to- 
gether to Raleigh. 

After obtaining his licen!=;o, ho left the school and took 



JUDGE R. R. HEATH. 137 

a law oltice, but was not much in it. He, however, at- 
tended to his business irregularly, and Thos. B. Haugh- 
ton, an old lawyer, whose daughter Mr, Heath subse- 
quently married, sometimes said, to the surprise of others, 
that Heath was one of the best lawyers in the town, but 
no one believed it. After his marriage, and while Mr. 
Haughton lived, he did but little, a sort of flotsam, of the 
profession. But when Mr. Haughton was drowned, leav- 
ing a very large estate, heavily involved and ultimately 
bankrupt, Mr. Heath waked up to the reality of his situa- 
tion, poor, the son-in-law of a bankrupt father, dependent 
upon himself, with nothing but his law books, a family 
looking to him for bread ; and he became a man. He 
removed to Eden ton from the conntrv. He w^as diligent 
in business. He made friends. He won clients. He 
gained causes. He was a plain man. Plain in his at- 
tire. Plain in his manners. Plain and free and simple 
in his intercourse. He followed the courts from Curri- 
tuck to Hyde, and was everywhere a favorite. In politics 
he was an unterrified Democrat, at a time when it was 
thought not to be decent to be other than a Whig. Demo- 
crats recognized him as an able leader in whom there was 
"no variableness nor shadow of turning." Pie was every- 
where their trusted leader, counsellor and guide. He 
was a thorough, well-posted politician and Democrat, not 
a speaker of the first class, but eminently wise in counsel. 
Mr. Heath was now a leader in the profession, with a 
leading practice in all the courts, the peer of the ablest in 
a bar that presented a galaxy of talent, and that numbered 
among its members Moore, and Kinney, and Outlaw, and 
Cherry, and Bras:^:, and -Tim Allen, and Tom Jones, and 
Jas. Jones, and Haughton, and Jesse Wilson, and Bailey, 
and Sheppard, and Smith, and Elliott, and Paine, and 
Brooks, and Martin. Amonc; this array of talent, Mr. 
Heath hold hieh rank, as a ready, astute and profound 
lawyer. His memory of authority and precedent was a 
marvel. At a moment's notice he would cite cases by 
name and page and in point. 



iT,S gkandfathkr's talks 

In Edenton, where he lived, he was the acknowledged 
rival of Judge Moore, and in their conventional courtesy 
there was too much rivalry for cordial friendship. Moore 
was laborious, painstaking, cautious, earnest. Heath was 
ready, quick, alert, surprising. Moore was earnest, and his 
earnestness sometimes arose to eloquence. Heath was calm, 
easy, placable, even-tempered. Moore was impassioned 
and vehement. Generally Moore was the more successful 
lawyer. He never trusted himself. He never "went off 
half-cocked." He was always thoroughly prepared. In 
mental characteristics he was very much like Chief Jus- 
tice Smith. Heath too often trusted to the chances. 

About the year 1850 Mr. Heath was elected to the Bench 
by the Legislature, without his seeking. He made an al)le 
Judge, and has left a reputation that is a credit to the 
Bench of jN'orth (Carolina. After the war Judge Heath 
removed to Tennessee, and resumed his profession. He 
was never satisfied. In letters to Bat. Moore, "who was 
his intimate friend, he spoke of the Albemarle country of 
North Carolina as the best country to live in that he had 
ever seen, and that he regretted his having left it. 

We heard the late Judge Brooks say that while in Eden- 
ton at the trial of the Johnston Will case, Judge Heath 
took a walk with him to his old house and home on Main 
street, and it was apparent to him that his mind w^as 
shadowed by a cloud of despondency. The past and its 
memories brooded over him as a pall. 

About the year 1875 Judge Heath returned to North 
Carolina, where he married a lady of w^ealth in the west- 
ern part of the State. 

And here we would gladly pause and cast the veil over 
the memory of our old school-master ; but biography, like 
history, must be true to itself. 

After living in North Carolina a few years, in a time 
of great mental depression and bodily sickness, in a mo- 
ment of despair, he shrank from the troubles of the world, 
which seemed of old to sit so liditly upon him. and took 
bv violence his useful life. 



GENERAL WILLIAM GREGORY. 139 

Judge Heath was large in person, with a face of a most 
kind, benign and winning expression. He was especially 
kind and social with the joung members of the profession, 
assisting them with advice and looking, perhaps, too gently 
upon any of their irregularities. In religious faith he 
was a Roman Catholic. He died at about sixty-five years 
of ase. 



GENERAL WILLlAM GREGORY. 
A genius of eccentricity. 

OiN^E of the most remarkable men in the whole history of 
Elizabeth City was Gen. William Gregory^ In the pos- 
thumous collectiaus of old North Carolina families by 
J. II. Wheeler,(_General Gregory, of Elizabeth City, > is 
spoken of as an old citizen of JSlorth Carolina who, early 
in life, was known as "Beau Gregory." He was a con- 
spicuous figure in his town for many years. He had great 
courtesy and style of manner, and was a punctilious ob- 
server of all the ceremonials of polite society up to his 
death in 1846. In personal appearance he strikingly 
resembled General La Eayette, so famous in our Revolu- 
tionary history. His father was a Revolutionary officer 
of large wealth, whose son William was his only son ; and 
he gave him the advantages of educational culture and 
polite association, and after completing his general edu- 
cation, placed him under the tuition of Gen. William R. 
Davie, of Halifax, to be trained in the profession of the 
law. General Davie Avas the most eminent lawyer in 
IN'orth Carolina, and was distinguished for elegant ac- 
complishments and courteous bearing;, acquired by diplo- 
matic association at the Court of Erance, where he had 
been a representative of our Government. 

After completing his education and obtaining his license. 
General Gregory, for a time, opened a law office in Eliza- 
beth City, but his large expectations of wealth and fond- 



140 grandfather's tales. 

ness for the pleasures of society interfered with his legal 
studies, and he was not a success at the bar. In fact, it 
was a long-current statement that he never appeared before 
a court and jury but once. It was said that he arose to 
address the jury, when the case was on trial, and said: 
''Gentlemen of the jury, I conceive that my client." He 
then looked confused and sheepish, and said again, "Gen- 
tlemen of the jury, I conceive.'' He then paused, looked 
foolish and dazed, and after a little while he proceeded 
and said again, "Gentlemen of the jury, I conceive," and 
then sat down. Mr. Goodman, the leader of the bar, who 
appeared on the opposite side, arose and said: "Gentle- 
men of the jury, brother Gregory has conceived three 
times and brought forth nothing," and then went on to 
argue the case. It was Gregory's first and last effort. 
He always ke]it up his association with the members of 
the law profession, always attended the courts, and was 
treated with marked attention and consideration by the 
members of the bar. 

In his old age, when nearing eighty, he was a conspic- 
uous figure on our streets, and was a specimen of vigorous 
old age, erect and sturdy looking. He was companion- 
able with young men and old, and was a favorite with 
e\'ery one. He became very poor in his old age, and was 
kindly cared for by his relatives and friends. He dressed 
plainly, but with scrupulous neatness. 

General Gregory had a singular constitutional defect 
in his intellectual organization. He had no conception 
of tlie proper use of words or their application, and the 
blunders which he made were a perennial fountain of 
jest for the town. He was utterly unconscious of his in- 
accuracies. Bill Butler, the wag of the town, was never 
happier than when he could jjet General Gregory to ex- 
plain to him something relating to military matters. But- 
ler would listen to him with apparent earnestness, while 
Gregory would go throu2:h all the details of military drill 
and evolution, and then Butler would 2:0 through the 
movements with the most ludicrous blunderinc;. The 



GENERAL WILLIAM GREGORY. 14I 

General woukl repeat it, saying '" — ■ — d — u it, Butler 
(he would cuss sometimes j, why don't you do like 1 show 
you !" While they enjoyed the joke, our old people were 
always respectful to the General. He was a militia Gen- 
eral, and knew no more about military matters than a 
militia muster captain with a cornstalk sword. 

General Gregory was utterly without business capacity, 
not for want of general intelligence, but for an impatience 
of the details of business, because he was dandled in the 
lap of luxury in his early days and could never bring 
himself down to the drudgery of labor. 

lie was postmaster of the town, and soon the business 
got awry, and his administration of post-office affairs was 
examined by an expert examiner of the office, who found 
a shortage in his accounts. His bondsmen promptly set- 
tled the delinquency and there was no attempt at con- 
cealment. After the matter w^as settled and the post- 
office had passed out of his hands, one of his bondsmen, an 
old and confidential friend, said to him — ''Gregory, what 
did you do with all the money that came into your hands ?" 
^'What did T do with it? Why, I spent it like a gentle- 
man, sir," said the General. 

While he was postmaster a weekly mail came tlirough the 
Dismal Swamp Canal from j^orfolk, and generally arrived 
at night. Its arrival was announced by firing an old 
cannon on the wharf where the mail boat landed. One 
very dark night the cannon was fired some time before the 
arrival of the mail, and the postmaster, the landlord of 
the hotel, old Billy Albertson, and several citizens went 
down to the wharf to get the mail and the passenffors, and 
some from mere curiosity. Dr. Mathews, then in his prime 
anrl ever on the alert for a practical joke, had stretched 
a rope across lower Main street on the route to the mail- 
boat landing. The rope was about the heiijht of a man's 
knees from the ground. Grefyorv hurried down for his 
mail, and was the first to he tripped heels over head by the 
ropp. While he was lying prostrate on the ground, Al- 
bertson came hurrying down to meet his passengers, and 



142 grandfather's tales. 

was tripped and fell, and he gave vent to his ire by cursing 
and threatening. Gregory spoke out in the darkness — 
"Billy, don't cuss ; I am down, too. It's that damn Sam. 
Mathews." 



ANECDOTES OF MR. BADGER. 

Still the wonder grew, *" 

That one big head 
Could carry all he knew. 

— Goldsmith. 

Let lis place upon the grave of Mr. Badger some few 
otferings ilhistrative of his eccentricities and of his won- 
derful versatility of talent, for, after all, his versatility 
of talent and acquirements were the most distinguished 
features of his character. 

We once heard Chief Justice Smith say that if Mr. Bad- 
ger talked about a horse one would suppose he had devoted 
his whole life to the study of horses, and so if he talked 
of anything else, one would think he had made that sub- 
ject a special study. He seemed to have an intuitive 
knowledge of things foreign to his pursuits, and he had 
a fondness for displa_ying it that was almost a weakness. 
We once heard Colonel Ferebee say that in the Secession 
Convention, Mr. Badger discoursed to Wm. Pettigrew and 
himself, who were members of that Convention, about 
the relative merits of different kinds of liquor at a length 
and learning that was wonderful ; concluding with a tribute 
to the value of whiskey over all other liquors. 

Mr. Badger was in this toAvn to argue a case of usury, 
in which the State Bank of Nortli Carolina was plaintiff 
and TToratio Williams was defendant, at the Sprinc' Term 
of the Superior Court of 1844, Judo-e W. H. Battle pre- 
sidino-. He was in the full vii^or of his faculties and man- 
hood. He was exuberant of health and spirits. He was 
full and running over with playfulness and vivacity. And 
he was lookinc anxiously forward to a place in the Hni- 



ANECDOTES OF MR. BADGER. 1 43 

ted States Senate, which was depending on his individ- 
ual ])ersonal popnUirity and upon the success of the Whig 
Party in ]Si"orth Carolina during that canvass. We had 
heard of Judge Badger as an austere man, haughty, super- 
cilious, proud, inconsiderate. We had heard him, when 
a boy, speak with contempt of popular government. We 
had heard of his contemptuous reference to the Legis- 
lature of North Carolina, of his contemptuous reference 
to the voters of Wake County, when he was an indifferent 
candidate for their suffrages in opposition to Wm. H. 
Haywood. We had observed when a boy that he never 
attended the sessions of the Convention of 1835. We 
took this as an expression of his contempt for that distin- 
guished body. We had therefore concluded that the same 
inte7"course would be shown here. How greatly we were 
mistaken. He was introduced to his professional breth- 
ren by Colonel Outlaw. He was courteous, kind and 
familiar. He became easy and playful with all the young 
members of the profession. The ink on our license was 
hardly dry, but we can remember with what happiness 
we felt the pressure of his great hand upon our youthful 
shoulders. He was familiar with all the people of the 
towm. Tom, Richard and Harry, he would hail acres'? 
the street by their familiar names and go tripping across 
to talk familiarly with them. He was at the time the 
most accomplished demagogue that we ever saw. 

His speech was a masterly effort. He was assisted by 
Wm. B. Shepard and General Ehringhaus ; the defence 
was supported by Chas. II. Kinney and Augustus Moore. 
The principal arguments were made by Mr. Badger and 
Mr. Kinney. Each foeman worthy of the other's steel. 
Mr. Kinney was in declining health, but the knowdedge 
of the foeman brought out the full measure of his strength. 
He overtaxed his physical power, and the next day he 
was prostrated by a hemorrhage. 

Mr. Bafl2:er came to the conrt thronG:li tlio country, in an 
elegant turn-ont Avith a pair of beautiful bays, whicli was 
every^ day at the door of the hotel at the service of iUc 
ladies who were boardinc at the hotel. 



144 grandfather's tales. 

llie day before Air. Uadger was to leave in tiie 
evening, lie was standing on the corner opposite the hotel, 
the gay centre of an admiring crowd of listeners, when 
Mr. Jihringhaus, the cashier of tlie bank, a venerable 
man of nearly seventy years, a great admirer of Mr. Bad- 
ger, and especially pleased with attentions from the dis- 
tinguished man, was passing on the other side. Mr. Bad- 
ger hailed him aloud, familiarly: "House (as he called 
him) come over here." Mr. Ehringhaus came over, and 
after a few words of pleasant conversation, said to Mr. 
Badger, pointing to his handsome carriage and horses 
standing before the door of the hotel: "Badger, I wish 
you would leave that pair of horses down here for me when 
you go away to-morrow !" Mr. Badger looked at him for 
a moment, and, assuming a most grave manner, said: 
"House, 1 like you. I have another pair of fine horses 
at home, and I. would like to give you that pair of horses. 
1 would like very much to do so. But, House, suppose 
I was to give you that carriage and horses, how shall I 
carry away that nice lunch you will put up for me to-mor- 
row to carry with me ? How should I carrj^ that old 
French brandy, that two or three bottles of old Port, that 
oyster sauce and pickles, that nice turkey and chicken 
salad, that cold lemon pudding, and the other nice and 
appetizing delicacies that you are going to fix up so 
kindly for me ?" House put on the dry grins. Mr. Bad- 
ger extemporized a thirty-dollar lunch in a few minutes. 

The morning Mr. Badger left to speak in Perquimans, 
he was invited to breakfast with Mr. Ehringhaus, and 
ordered his carriage to leave from there. He was accom- 
panied by Thos. F. Jones, of Perquimans, and it is from 
Mr. Jones' narrative that we take the account of that visit. 
Mr. Ehringliaus' family were society people, and Mr. Bad- 
ger was received with marked and ceremonious courtesy. 
!N'otliing was omitted that was due to one so distinguished. 
All the ceremonial observances were strictly followed. 
The servants were trained to the observance of the most 
minute etiquette of fashion. 



ANECDOTES OF MR. BADGER. 1 45 

Wlu'ii breakfast was announced, Mr. Badger was ush- 
ered in with ev^ery mark of respect and deference. The 
guests were assigned to their several phiccs ; and as the dis- 
tinguished guest was about being seated, the servant girl, 
as bv direction, removed the chair to replace it when 
seated. When lo I Mr. Badger, not observing that the 
chair had been removed, attempted to take his seat be- 
fore it was replaced, and fell sprawling upon the lloor 
in a most mortifying manner. The whole family were 
in a condition of utter bewilderment. The servant girl 
was frightened and mortified, and things presented a most 
pitiable sight. Mr. Badger laid there till the tempest had 
subsided, and then, raising himself up on his elbows and 
looking at Mrs. Ehringhaus, said, with the most satisfied 
expression, "Well, Madam, what comes next?" as if it 
were a part (d" the ceremony for him to be tripped up and 
tlirowu u])on the floor. 



lO 



146 grandfather's tales. 



THE PEN AND THE SWORD. 

Beneath the rule of man entirely great. 
The pen is mightier than the sword. 

— Richelieu. 

The question is often asked, Who was the greater, Na- 
poleon Bonaparte or Sir Walter Scott? Scott wrote the 
life of jN apoleon, and it was the hrst elaborate biogi-aphy 
of that man of destiny. Who was the greater, Homer, 
author of the great epic poem, or Achilles, the hero of the 
o-reat drama of history upon which that epic was founded ? 
Who was the greater, Patrick Henry, the orator and tri- 
bune of the llevolution, or Wirt, who crystalized that 
oratory into biographical history? Unquestionably, the 
pen of the historian is mightier than the sword of the 
warrior. So likewise, a fortiori (as lawyers say) the pen 
is mightier than the ''root of all evil" 

To illustrate these propositions: North Carolina has 
made enough history to make a large-sized library. It 
has furnislied enough orators to fill all the mausoleums 
of history. Wm. R. Davie was the orator, statesman and 
diplomatist of the Revolution. He was the Patrick Henry 
of North Carolina. Why was not Henry the Wm. R. 
Davie of Virginia ? Davie was a superior man to Henry. 
Davie was a courtly gentleman of the old school, a good 
lawver, an able debater, a representative of our govern- 
ment at the polished Court of France, and wore a gentle- 
man's queue, manufactured in Paris. Henry was a bar- 
keeper, a hook-and-line fisherman, a fox hunter, and, as 
Mr. Jefferson told Mr. Webster at Monticello in 1820, 
associated with rowdies in intimate companionship. Why 
then, is it, that Henry rides down tbe lines of history as 
the "silver-tongued orator" of the Revolution, and Davie 
is hardly known to our school children ? Simply because 
Wirt's pen was mi^itior than Davie's tongue or sword. 
All along the line from Davie down, orators have been in- 
digenouiTto North Carolina soil, and at every period of 
her liistorv. Wbv do avo not knmv tliat history by heart? 



THE PEN AND THE SWORD. 



147 



Simply because our pens have been silent amid the clash 
of .arms and the progress of great events. JSTow, this is 
all wrong. He that raises his arm on the ramnarts of his- 
tory should ride like a panoplied knight down its lines. 
If iiorth Carolina has made history, as she doubtless has, 
then it is right and just that the laurels of history should 
be twined around her brow. How can the wrong be right- 
ed ? How can it be condoned before the august tribunal 
of history? Let "I^'orth Carolina Day" be set apart in 
all our schools in the State as sacred to our history. Let 
each pupil select some event in our annals and write a 
historical essay upon the event, or some one be assigned 
to him for study and composition. Let the teacher select 
the best essay and preserve it, and the next generation of 
2^orth Carolina's sons will know more and be prouder of 
the grand old State of their birth and its achievements in 
the role of historv. 



148 grandfather's tales. 



THE GIANTS OF 1840. 

Green be the turf above thee, 
Fnendfs of my better days. 

—Drake. 

TiiK year 1n-I() wa?; the most iiieiiiorablc date in the ]»<.- 
litieal history of the I'uited Slates. It was a great crisis in 
our party contests. The W'hii;- Tarty had been maintaining 
an unequal contest with the Democratic party for several 
years, sonietinies gaining a victory in sporadic cases, and 
always maintaining its inteHectual ascendency in the 
^Xational Congress, and alwavs an overmatcli for the great 
leaders of Democracy. 

The Whig Xational Convention iiu-t in ilarrishnrg, and 
after a tnmultuous session nominated a man who liad been 
much of his life in the public service, had made no dis- 
tinguished name as a statesman, but liad made some repu- 
tatmn as a military man and bad won one battle — the 
battle of Tippecanoe. 

That convention at Uarrisburg adopted no phitfnrni of 
principles. Its candidate^ was unknown, but he wa^ her- 
abb'd as a good old man <d' phiin an<l honest character, of 
humble as))irations. ami licld ibe Inmdde office <d" county 
clei'k in a comity town of Ohio, and lived in an nnprelen- 
tions way at North Bend, on the Ohio Kiver. 

At Ilan-isburg he was nominated over (May, Webster 
and General Scott. The nomination took the country by 
surprise, but it was backed b\- a vast ileal of enthusiasm. Tn 
the National (^lllvention tlic l-'irst District of North Oaro- 
lina was re])resented by Kenneth Uayner, of Ilertfcu'd 
Count V, onr re]>resentative in the lower house of Con- 
gress, ' (diaries R. Kinney, leadin- lawyer of Klizabeth 
City, and William W. Cherrv. ,.f r.ertie (^.unty. Idiere 
nuiv have beei\ some others. The iioiiiinat ioii was re- 
ceived with derision by the Democrats and by some lu-oni- 
inent Whigs, with coldness. AVm. V>. Sliepard, of Eli/a- 
betb Citv, who had been in Congress with Harrison f<»r 
several vears, said he couhl not vot(^ fm- him. that he was 



THE GIANTS OF 184O. 1 49 

an *N>1(1 granny," and while in the Senate of the United 
States liad l)een conspicuous for his stu]ndit_v. JMr. Shep- 
ard made no conccalnieur of his opinions, and his influ- 
ence was creating a local ]tuhlic sentiment against the 
Whig nominee for Presi(h'nt. Tjiarh's I\. Kinney, l)rim- 
full of enthusiasm for the chief whom he had helped to })ut 
in nomination, assaile(I the opinicnis of Mr. Shepard in 
the local newspapers and hr was re]ilie(l to hy Mr. Slie})- 
iird through the same newspaper medium. The contro- 
versy was ke|)t u]) for some time with ahility and acri- 
mony that was leading to ])er8onal coutlict. The matter 
was tinally adjusted hy mutual friends, and Mr. She]xir(l 
gradually fell into tlu- surging TTarrison tide and did 
yeoman service with ringing speeches, from Bertie to (hir- 
rituck. 

h'enucth Raynei' was tlien the AVhig lender of the First 
District, an earnest, and)itious and ])o])ular idol of the par- 
ty, lie came home from Ilarrisburg some days after the 
ad joiirnm( nt of the Conveiition, at which time the Harrison 
tide was i-ising and swee|)iug the ])eo]de before it, and log 
cabins and hard cider were becoming the object lessons 
of the campaign. 

The people of the town of Edenton had erected a capa- 
cious cabin on the green, in front of the c(mrt-lionse, and 
they would have Kayner to speak in it first. He seemed 
unusually thoughtful. When he rose to speak he was 
tlionghtfnl to austerity. During his speech he nsed these 
words : "We must drive the Democrats from power, peace- 
ablv, if we can, if not, forcibly." The words were nttered 
with a deep-toned earnestness that thrilled the audience. 
There was no applause, l)ut the solemn silence that attend- 
ed it showed the dee]) thouii'hts that choked their utterance. 

While Rayner was syx^king there came into the cabin 
a little man of ratlier uncainly appearance, and whose 
attire and bearin'j; indicated his indifference to those im- 
portant objects. Some of his friends crowded around 
him with cordial greetino-. We had never seen him be- 
fort\ He was invited and taken to the platform with 



150 grandfather's tales. 

Kayner. lie and Rayuer met with the cordialty of inti- 
mate friendship. The little man's size and appearance 
was against him. His bearing was wanting in dignity. 
An intellectual smile played between his eyes and his 
broad mouth. When examined carefully his physiogno- 
my represented two qualities. His chin and lower jaw 
stood for kindliness, humor, amiability and good fellow- 
ship. His upper head was a capacious dome, enlarging 
from base to summit. It was a symmetrical dome of 
tliought, the domicile of a brain power that made a great 
master among men. It was William W. Cherry — one of 
the most genial, gifted, eloquent, forceful speakers that 
the Albemarle section has ever given to North Carolina, 
perhaps the most so. He was the soul of wit, humor and 
eonvivinlity. His powers of repartee were as sharp as a 
"two- edged sword," but left no wound. As a raconteur he 
was the superior of Ham Jones. His benevolence was 
broad as humanit}', and he was as pure as a Vestal Virgin, 
with an exquisite geniality that was never stained by a 
bad habit. 

When Rayncr liuislied speaking, "Cherry! Cherry !" was 
vociferously called for. He came in response to the cor- 
dial call. He had scarce uttered a few sentences before 
everybody recognized a great orator. With electric argu- 
ment that convinced, words that thrilled fell from him as 
seldom before had fallen from human lips. 

O, the ironies of fate ! 

Cherry died young; scarce turned forty. Fate had 
emptied its cornucopia of honors in his lap, and his future 
was a sun-o-ilt prospect. He had not an enemy in the 
world, and his friends were lovino- and true. He fell 
before the relentless reaper, all unexpected, when the peo- 
ple were casting their honors, all unsoua'ht by him, at his 
feet. 

When we were in the court-house at Edenton where the 
Wliig convention met that unanimously nominated him 
for Conc;re?s to succeed Tvenneth Ravner, who had re- 
sigmed the place, we were assio-ned the place of secretary 



THE GIANTS OF 184O. I5I 

of the conveution, over which Augustus Moore^ Sr., of 
Edenton, presided. It was an easy task to nominate 
Cherry. It was prearranged. A committee was appoint- 
ed to notify him, and they soon came in with him. 

His speech of acceptance was in his usual style. We 
took it down stenographically as he spoke. When the 
convention adjourned, toward night, we went out and 
in the early night wrote it out and then looked for Mr. 
Cherry to submit it to him for revision. After some 
search, we found him in the old Club House at the Eden- 
ton Hotel, in his stocking feet and shirt sleeves, sitting in 
a chair with his feet doubled up under him, and cracking 
jokes with a crowd of admiring friends. He was re- 
counting to them a story of a Western county, North Car- 
olina constable who went to Charleston, S. C, on horse- 
back to purchase a piece of land in North Carolina from 
a rich nabob who was a titled colonel, which we had heard 
Ham elones tell in Raleigh some years before. He beat 
glorious old Ham, far away. 

After he had finished, we submitted our report to him. 
He pronounced it good, and with thanks gave every word 
his approval. We sent the proceedings and speech to the 
Baleigh Bcqister, and the same number of the paper con- 
tained his death. The touching obituary by Weston R. 
Gales had under the headlines Burke's famous apothegm: 

"What shadows we are, and wliat shadows we pursue!" 



152 GRANDFATKKk'S TALES. 



THE DEATH OF WILLIAM GASTON. 
O death ! where is thy .sting. 

Wiiiix Jud^iix' (iasioii (Icpiii-iiMl this life in Raleigh, Jan- 
uary 23, 1844, at 65 years, a great man left us, and Caro- 
lina was in mourning for her most distinguished son. 
Distinguished as his life had been, rounded, patriotic and 
useful, when he departed this lif(^ nothing became him like 
the leaving of it. He was a grand old man, and was beck- 
oned away at the green old age of sixty-five years, full of 
honoi-, distinction, usefulness and the love and gratitude 
of his countrymen. 

While the Supreme Court of North Carolina, of which 
he was one of the Justices, was in session in the morning, 
he was attacked with gi(Miness in the head, with syni])- 
toius of a])oplexy. The Court adjourned immediately, 
and he was taken in a cai'riagc to his oHice at Mrs. Tay- 
lor's. He rallied from tlie attack during the evening, 
and at night several distinguishe(l friends called in to see 
him. He talked with them, nwA the coux'crsatioii tuiMied 
naturally uj)on the uncertainty of life and kiudrcil rcliu^ 
ions sidijects. As he became inlci'cste(l in ilic sul>i('ct. 
Judge Gaston rose up on his elbow and tlien sat up in bed. 
He spoke lUi infidelity and its iutluencc- u]H)n chai'aclcr. 
and i'(d"err('d to Tobias Watkins. a distimiuislicd ))nblic 
otlicer, who was an avowed infidel, and whom he had 
known while a member of ("^ongress in Washinutou. IFe 
sai<l he always distrusteil him. and then lie ;!dd(Ml : '"I do 
not say that an infidel may not from education and hiuh 
motives be an honorable man. but T dare noi n-nst him. 
A belief in an all-rulinu' Provi(lenc(\ who shapes our 
ends and will i-eward us according to our deeds, is ucces- 
sarv. We unist believe and feel that there is a God. Alwise 
and .Mmiu'hty." As he ]>ronouuced this last word, 
he raised hims(df u]) in bed and fell back a lifeless c(u-])se. 
A cTand and dramatic close of an illustrious life. 

^^r. Gaston was a oroat favorite in Xew "Rem, where 



DEATH OF WILLIAM GASTON. 153 

he had lived all his life, lie was beloved for hi» cour- 
tesy, his kindness, his benevolence, and for his great abil- 
ity and usefulness in public and private. He was the 
central hgure in the group of distinguished men that illus- 
trated the history of Xew Bern as no town in the State 
had been. It seemed at one time that every big num in 
North Carolina had been born or lived at some time in 
that ''Athens" of the State, as the noble old town used to 
be lovingly called. Stanly, Gaston, Taylor, Shepard, 
Hawks, Daves, Badger, Manly, Graham, Henry, Nash, 
Speight, Backus, Bryan and a crowd of other great men, 
were all born or lived there. 

The negroes joined in the general distress at Judge 
Gaston's deatli. He was always their friend. He always 
deplored the existence of slavery in North Carolina, and 
regarded it as "the worst evil that atilicted the Southern 
portion of our Confederacy," and in his famous address 
at the University in 18?>^, asked if it was too much "to 
]io])e for its ultimate extirpation in jSTorth Carolina." 
When he was a candidate for the J^egislature, when the 
old "State House" in Raleigh was burned, and he was 
elected over Charles She])ard by one nuijority, all the free 
negroes voted for him. 

His memory is yet green iu the lienrts of Ids coTintry- 
meu, and the ])atriotic ode written by him in a moment 
of ins]>iratiou — " Carolina I (^irolina! Heaven's bless- 
ings attend her" — yet wakens the love of our ]ieo]de fVu- 
the dear old State we love so well. 



154 grandfather's tales. 



MAMMY ELLEN. 

Full many hearts in lowly bosoms dwell 
Tlie worltl knows not of, or cares not to tell. 

We tell the story of the heroism of the lowly. There 
are heroes of domestic life that have found but little space 
in history. It is a picture of Southern life, and we hope 
it will not be out of place to rescue it from oblivion, with- 
out drawing on the imagination for its simple "annals of 
the poor." It is the picture of the old black mammy of 
Southern society before that cruel "war between the 
States," that, whatever may have been its benefits (and 
there are doubtless many) developed some of the most fiend- 
ish traits of our poor human nature and ruthlessly sun- 
dered ties that were heaven-born, earth-blessed, and nur- 
tured in love. 

It is the story of Mammy Ellen, a faithful old black 
mammy, to whose pure and loving memory we would now 
like to raise a monument of pure black marble to commem- 
orate the virtues of a black slave who had been the foster- 
mother of the children, had nursed them in childhood, had 
followed them in manhood with kindly words of counsel 
when the world's gilded temptations lured them from 
duty. But that coveted work has been denied us by an 
inexorable necessity that has dogged the heels of our res 
avgm^fa domi. 

Mammy Ellen's is a plain picture, true to life. She 
had her home by day and a lowly cot at night in a loving 
household. She was always with the family and the chil- 
dren that she loved with unselfish devotion ; intelligent, 
M'ntchful, patient and forbearing. From a little girl she 
had been an intimate associate of the family. As she 
grew to womanhood she became their loved counsellor and 
friend. Her patience and good humor was a marvel of 
loveliness. She always kept her temper, even when it 
was subjected to the innocent provocations of childhood's 
love of fun. Sometimes "tired nature," wearied with 



MAMMY ELLEN. 1 55 

watching at night, would seek relief in a short ''cat-nap" by 
day, and healthy and bright children, always watchful 
for ] obs in the held of fun, would poke straws into Manmiy 
Ellen's closed eyelids, and she would always come to con- 
sciousness with a happy smile and a kindly word of 
chiding. 

A little incident occurs of Mammy Ellen's faithful 
watching, mixed a little with the supernatural. A sick 
chamber, a little boy, of that interesting age when "sweet 
is the voice of childhood and its earliest words," is sick 
unto death. His mother, worn with watching, broken 
with grief, had left him in despair, to commune with 
God. His father and Mammy Ellen watched by his 
dying bed, both weeping. Death, with its inverted torch, 
we both thought had come to beckon him away. Every 
childish prattle of his was crowded into a moment. The 
critical moment, we thought, had come. At length the 
father gave way, and telling Mammy Ellen to close his 
eyes after death, sought the anguished mother. She ^vas 
in an upper chamber, night clothed, pacing up and down 
the floor, sad but silent. The agonized father said : "My 
dear, we've got to give up our little boy. He can not live 
half an hour." She turned to the half -crazed father and 
said, as if in words of inspiration, "No, no; he will not 
die. I have been in prayerful communion with our Heav- 
enly Father, and he has given me assurance that our dear 
little boy would be spared to us." We went back below. 
Faithful Mammv Ellen was watching over him. The 
little fellow roused for a moment from a comatose slee]3. 
Mammy Ellen leaned over him and said, "How do you 
feel now ?" He answered quickly, "I'm better, do you 
know, now." He turned over, went to sleep, recovered 
rapidly and was restored to his parents. 

And now let us turn to the dark side of this shield. Tn 
the fall of 18G3 there came to Elizabeth City a one-armed 
General, who wore and dishonored the epaulettes of the 
TJnited vStates Army, and occupied the toAvn. He brought 
with him five thousand ne2:ro soldiers. He established 



156 GRANDFATHERS TALES. 

a reign of horror here tor ;il)i>iit ;i mouth. lie iin])i'is- 
oned innoceut and delicate \V(unen, phit-cd tliciii un(h'i' ;i 
guard of negro sohliers, who watched all rhcir movenieiils 
by day and night, lie threatened old men and noii-coni- 
hatants with tire and (h^ath. He had imt one instinct — 
cruelty — an«l he gratiiied his thiist for desolation. lie 
swe])t away vvrvv \-estige oi' iiroperty and made 11s ;i 
land (d' wi'etclied ))an|iei's. When he was lea\'ing, he sent 
a squad of negi'o soldiei-s |o take away all the negroes that 
were left. Some !>ii1faloes wiili whom he consorted, di- 
rected him to homes where some vet i'(anaine(|. 'Idiey 
came to the home where Mammy Fdlen lived. She did 
not want to go. They tried to ])ersuade her away, and 
called her "sissy." She still refused to go. At length 
they told her she niitst go and made a show of force ; the 
children came to them and, weepinu', l)egged them noi to 
take away Mammy Ellen. Their hearts of steel did not 
relent hefore the supplications of cliildhood in tears. .\t 
length Mannny Kllen, wee^nng, took from her ])ocket an old 
]nii'se, and takinu' some silvc^r coin, distril)uted it among 
them, and emhracing then) and callinii- them"lier children," 
took her depart\n'e with the s(ddiers,an(l her hody now rests 
.somewhere among the sand dunes of Tioanoke Islaml, and 
her blessed spirit still hovers over and follows the children 
that sh(» loved and watched over in life. 



HENRY W. MILLER. 1 57 



HENRY W. MILLER. 

Where every god did seem to t^et his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man. 

— Hamlet. 

X(»KT!i (\vK()j.iXA has had many men in its citizenship 
that iUnstrate the touching lines in "Grey's Elegy in a 
('ountry Churchyard" — 

"Some mute inglorious Milton 
Here may rest, 
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood."' 

They sleep iinhonored because no pen has made record 
(if their deeds — that handmaid of immortality, mightier 
than the sword, most potent of all the agencies in the pre- 
servation of glorious and inglorious deeds, the index finger 
of the (trt preservative, that marks the sign-hoards in the 
])ath\vay of time. 

Among those ''mute inglorious Miltons," whose grand 
marcli to greatness, witnessed hy his wonderiup' contem])()- 
rarics, and whose magic words of elo(]uence and wisdom 
are fast fading from the memories of men, was Henry 
Watkins Miller, of Raleigh. He bore upon his augnst 
brow natiire's guinea stam]i of nobility. He was born to 
greatness, and the shadow of his wonderful intellectual 
gifts was ciist before him before his entrance upon the 
jircna of life. 

He was our school friend. We for two years o<'cui»ied 
adjacent rooms in tlie old historic "South Building" of tlu:^ 
r'niversity of Xortli Carolina, se])arated only In* a narrow- 
passage way. That ])assage way was the dividing line 
between tb(^ Di. and Phi. brotherhoods, but it did not di- 
vide oui' friendship, whicli was of a somewliat intimate 
character. 

Much is said of the masterv of men, and Milh-r's nias- 
tei-v at the T"''ni versify was tlie mastery of men. His in- 
telh'ctnality as a hoy was a marvel. His personality was 
cliai-iniuii'. His eye was like a sloe; but tlu' as)iect of 



158 grandfather's tales. 

Mars was softened by a glance of kindness that won all 
hearts by its sincerity and benevolence. Seldom he 
laughed, but when he did it was a musical ripple of a 
placid river on a pebbly bottom. 

One word more and we will dispose of his boyhood. He 
was at the head of his class as an intellectual man, but he 
was not a "first-mite" man. His genius was too univer- 
sal to be "cribbed, cabined and confined," to be bound 
around by the technicalities of the scholar. He was an 
all-round intellectual prodigy. His field of triimiph was 
too broad for the struggles of logarithms, hydrostatics and 
optics, and he gave all his strength to the struggles of man- 
kind. Another word, and we give up his boyhood and turn 
to the graver and sadder period of his life. 

Miller graduated in 1834. He spoke the third speech in 
the order of distinction. It was a grand effort, full of 
the afflatus of oratory in its grandest t^q^e. His father, 
a plain old man, in the sixties, homespun clothed, a Vir- 
ginian, of Buckingham County, came to the University 
at the Commencement of ISSi, to see his son graduate. 
We stood by the old man in the aisle of Gerrard Hall. 
Young Henry Miller carried the audience alons; \vith liim 
by the magic thrill of his eloquence. The old man wept 
like a child as young Henry swe])t the heart-strings of the 
audience, and when he sat down the old man, with stream- 
ing eyes, went upon the rostrum, took his gifted son in 
his arms, and wept aloud. All college distinctions paled 
before the grand triumph of that proud day. 

While at the University he was a model of every pro- 
priety. He had no excesses, was a member of the Presby- 
terian Church, and was in all respects moderate, circum- 
spect and exemplary. But let him who stands and of 
whom "all speak well," beware lest he fall ! 

He returned to his home in Ttaleigh after irraduation. 
His fame of greatness had preceded him. Friends on 
every side met him with open arms and were profuse of 
compliment and congratulation. George E. Bado-er, the 
head of the law profession in Raleigh, and a leader in its 



HENRY W. MILLER. I59 

distinguished social life, took him by the hand, took him 
up as "his boy," took him in his otiice as a law student, 
flattered him, praised him, and predicted his future dis- 
tinction, Weston R. Gales received him and made him 
a pet in his charmed circle of social life, with its brilliant 
baits of temptation and uleasure. His head was turned, 
the proprieties of his past life were thrown to the winds, 
he fell before the tempter and his life is now the best 
temperance lecture in the whole history of ISTorth Carolina. 

His life afterward was a fall, and a staggering, repentant 
recovery. Sometimes, yea often, the fire of his old-time 
brilliancy would flame out with unwonted fervor. In the 
Harrison storm of 1840, he was a power, and the cam- 
paign newspaper articles — "A Plain Man and One of the 
People" — were read throughout the State and had great 
influence. He acquired the reputation of a great but un- 
certain lawyer. He had a leading practice in important 
cases, and at his best was regarded as an unrivalled ad- 
vocate. 

x\bout 1858 he was appointed b_y the "Ladies of the 
Blount Vernon Association," with Edward Everett, the 
li'reat Massachusetts orator, to deliver lectures through- 
'>ut the United States for the purpose of purchasing ]\Iount 
^'c^non and dedicating it to the memory of Washington. 
It was a distinguished honor, and much appreciated by 
Carolina's talented son. For a time it exercised a salu- 
tary influence over his life, and he entered the service 
assigned him with an earnestness and ability that eclipsed 
the fame of Everett. 

Miller's lecture was never published, but we had the 
pleasure of reading the manuscript some years after, and 
it was strikingly elegant, original and forceful. 

As a graceful orator and elocutionist, he could not have 
been excelled by Everett; for Miller was the equal of 
Daniel Webster in magisterial face and bearing, and his 
superior in person and in the sweet musical cadence of 
his tones. 

Once, in 1862, we were on a railroad bound for Ra- 



i6o gkandfather's tales. 

l(Mi>li. \Vc were sittinti, l)v a friend, and wliilc in comcr- 
sation with him, \vc heard a voice full of melody and 
sweetness coniini;' from Ix'hind us far down in the car. 
We said to the friend neai" us, ''Surely we've heard that 
voice before. It sounds like Henry Miller's." lie re- 
plied, ''Mr. Miller is on the train." We had not met 
]\Iiller for thirty years. 

We turned and looked over the dense ci-owd. Far down 
we recognized the majestic brow and eye of "Old Coal" 
of the T^^niversity. I went at once to him. lie met me 
as I him, with the old-time heartiness, known only lo 
school-day friendship.. We turned to the |)ast, and iiave 
some space to the present. IFe lamented the war then 
raging-; and tlie stoppage of his work in the lecture field 
with Kdward Kverett adde<| to his |)ersoiud regi-ets. 

We suggested tiiat he devote some part of his life to 
preparing an (dahorate l)iogra])hy of William (iraston. lie 
said no num a])])reciated the character of the great ( 'aro- 
linian more than he did, but he was poor, and the demands 
of his family took all his time. He then passed his hand 
through our hair and made some comment upon the foot- 
prints of time with both of us. He got off at tlie next 
station, and we ])arted never to meet again. 



JUDGE THOMAS RUFFIN. i6l 



JUDGE THOMAS RUFFIN. 

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." It o-jves 
weigiit to reproof, force to counsel and point to example. 

— Grier. 

As T.ONG as magistracy exists, the name of Thomas 
Ivuffin, of 'EoYth Carolina, will be conspicuons among her 
great sons. He was specially a great lawyer, and the 
monnmont that he reared to his memory was acqnired by 
long and laborions service in her legal ranks. 

From the ranks, amid difficnltics, withont family in- 
ilnence, without patronage, with the encumbrance of 
constitutional diffidence, in the face of eminent legal prac- 
titioners and rivals at the bar, he rose to be the acknowl- 
edged leader on his circuit of courts, and in the progress of 
his career came to be tlie chief minister at its altars. 

His distingiiished life and character is full of practical 
lessons to the young as])irant for forensic distinction who 
longs to inscrilK^ his name upon the ])illars of the legal 
temple. '"" 

It is a lesson of struggle under difficulties, of intense 
labor, ^ of indefatigable perseverance, of resolute deter- 
mination, of patience, of self-reliance, of triumph. 

_ When J:)emostlienes, the great Grecian orator, and as- 
signed the highest place in the Pantheon of oratory, was 

asked wliat was tlie main c(mstituent of oratorv, lie said 

action ; and wlien asked for the next element, he rejieated— 
action; and when asked for the third constituent, lie re- 
peated the same answer. Tlie lesson of Thouias iluffin's 
lite was that labor, thrice rei)eated, was tlie orand ele- 
\ nient m the life of a successfu], great hiwver.' He was 
I no orat<M- as Brutus or Cicero. He was' without tlie 
I graces <.f manner. He had no honevc^d woi-.ls ..f 
rhetoric that won the hearts of men. His voice l)r.>u<dit 
] no reminder of the Eolian bar],. His countenance was 
. austere, and his hmbs were in.t cast in the mould .,f an 
I Appollo Belvider... He i.n.bnbly never tol.j n j,,ke in 
I I 



l62 grandfather's TAIvES 

his life, and probably but seldom relaxed into pleasantry. 
I^iit he was a man of character, upright, earnest, sincere 
kind laborious. He had duty for his guide-star, and was 
in every fiber of his constitution a grand model of God's 
masterwork — an honest man. He was equal to all the 
positions he occupied in life. He had been a legislator 
in the General Assembly, had been a Judge on the Circuit 
and Supreme Bench, and was a master in each. On the 
Circuit Bench he was earnest, pure, able, and dispatched 
business with great diligence, promptness and firmness. 
On the Supreme Bench he was probably unequalled m 
our judicial annals. His opinions on the Supreme Bench 
were distinguished for learning, clearness and profound 
research. They were universally commended, and were 
quoted with approval in the courts of Westminster Hall, 
in England. 

If there was any weakness in the panoply of his acquire- 
ments, it was in his literary character. He was not at 
home on the literary rostrum. He addressed the gradua- 
ting class of 1835 at the University of North Carolina, 
and we tliought it too direct and practical for a graceful 
literarv occasion. There are some occasions in which wis- 
dom is'^not wise when unadorned, when a "spade" must be 
des;cribed, and not called by its homely cogniomen. 

Judge Ruffin was a Virginian by birth, a Carolinian 
by education and adoption. His Virginia lineage em- 
braces much distinction in the judicial line — a maternal 
ancestor being Judge Spencer Eoane, who was Chief Jus- 
tice of that State. 

His preparatory education was in the town of Warren- 
ton, N. C, where he fonued school-mate friendships with 
many Carolinians, who in after life were his warm friends. 
He i^-aduated at Princeton College with distinction in his 
class, and while there was the room-mate and class-mate 
of Gov. James Iredell, of North Carolina. Soon after his 
maturity he removed to Hillsboro, N. C, where he passed 
his bonored and successful life, and departed this life at 
eiehtv-three years, full of honor and reverence. 



A MONSTER SNAKE. 163 

A MONSTER SNAKE. 
[a story of the sea. J 

Some boys were on an outing to the 'Tresh Ponds" 
at JN ags Head, a favorite resort of sportsmen, and as they 
journeyed on through brake and briar, they saw an im- 
mense snake's head protruding through a hole in the body 
o±_ a live oak tree. One of them, who carried the com- 
missary basket, pointed to the monster's head, and was 
amazed. He was about to run home in fright, but an- 
other boy, larger than himself, shook him vigorously by the 
shoulders until his nerves were recovered. 

While this athletic pantomine was going on, his snake- 
hood was looking on with serene composure. The boy 
was considering the Scriptural injunction to bruise that 
serpent s head. He recovered from his Scriptural'reverie 
seized his breech-loader and bruised his head with twenty- 
four heavy buckshot. In fact, he blew ofP his snakeship's 
head, and left him a monster off his head. 

iNearer the bottom of the tree there was another hole 
a sort of back door to the snake's sanctum (so to speak)' 
In a little while the snake's tail began slowly to protrude 
itself through that snakely back door. One of the boys 
recognizing his opportunity, dragged out five feet of his 
headless body through that hole, threw the head part over 
a boy s shoulder and the tail over his own, and then forget- 
ting the Fresh Ponds and the big black bass, marched back 
to the hotel as proud as an army with banners. 

On^their way back they discovered a protuberance in the 
snakes abdomen that alarmed them. Finally they 
reached the hotel, and everybody came up and marvelled 
at the great triumph. They examined the egg, which the 
boys had dissected from the snake's body, and wondered 
still the more. They examined the egg, and each exam- 
iner liad his own theory. 

At length some one "'suggested that they should form an 



164 grandfather's talks. 

ori>;uii/c(l Ixxly to (lc!il)ci';itc on the inystery of the snake 
and tlic ciiu-. Aai'ccd. .lolin (1. Wood, of Hayes, was 
called I0 ilic cliaii', and Closes Blaekstock, of Bertie, 
was calli tl oil to express his sentiments. He kindly re- 
sponded. "This," said he, "is a venomous species of the 
anguhis dioscii/o.s. It is an amphibious animal, and is 
always found near the sea. It has a thousand legs, which 
are used as ])addles in the sea and propellers on land. It 
can outi'un tlu- swiftest race-horse, and can jump twentv 
feet al a bound. As to tlie ecg-, it is the property of some 
thrifty <dd Inaiscwifc, wliich she used as a nest-egg to 
fool lier hens with and make them lay when they don't 
want to." Others sliook their heads, and said it was noth- 
inii' l)ut a story wliicli the boys bad liatclud from a stone 
tbcy had ])icked u]) 011 the bcacli. 

in llic confusion of their conHictin^ opinions, some one 
suggested that if any one could explain the mystei'v it was 
J>ill Jones, an exotic banker; that Bill was a funny man, 
and when in his funny mood lie couhl not tell his right 
leg from a ])owder-horn ; but set two cocktails before him 
with a straw in each, and let him draw, and in ten min- 
utes he would tell you more of the past, present and future 
than all flic wise lucn from (^ipe Ilatteras to Colliniiton 
Bay. Two cocktails of John Ward's best were (U-dcred, and 
a committee^ a])i)ointed to invite Bill Jones's ]u-esence at the 
coiudavc. Tie soon came, and, lookinu' around, saw two 
cocktails staring bini in his face, that was beaming with 
liai)piucss. Tic addressed himself to them, and for tive 
iiiiuules discussed first one and then the other. Then, 
turning to the crowd, he said, "Gents, for what want yc 
me r' The chairituin answered: "We want your learning 
as to this snake and this OiX'^.''' He bowed liis best bow, 
and then, pointing to the monster reptile, said: "That 
snake i)eloniis to the niir/ddiisti family — venomous, destruc- 
liv<' and rabid. Its jaws turn u])on a ]iivot and hinae, 
and it can take in a hog, a jtossum, oi' a ]>up])v, and some- 
times swallows a baby, without distinction of color, race 
(u- ]U'evious condition. Tliis one is well known here. Tie 



A MONSTER SNAKK. 1 65 

was t\w Icrror of these banks. He ate Betsy Barker's baby 
at OIK- gulp. He ran ott" with JS'ancy Dowdy's two twins, 
and has eaten various and sundry others. From exami- 
nation of his fangs, he is thirty years old. The boys were 
fortunate in shooting him as quick as they did, for when 
his liead was thrust through that hole he was preparing 
for a s]U'ing, and would have wrapped his head around 
one of the boy's neck and stuck his tail in his nostrils, 
strangled him in less time than a minute, and devoured 
]iim at his next meal.'' 

Turniuii- to the e<>'i»;, Bill J. eved it from every stand- 
point and said : ''Tliis is an ossified egg of the Great Auk, 
a mammoth bird of tlie torrid regions that existed in pre- 
liistoric ages, just ])rior to the death of Abel. There is 
onlv one Auk 02:2: in the Avorld. It is preserved in the 
British !^Iuseum and a million dollars has been refused 
for it." 



i66 grandfather's tales. 



BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE. 

I have no words : i 

My voice is in my sword. 

—Macbeth. 

Pekiiaps no battle of the Revolution had greater effect 
in rousing the Patriots of the Revolution in its earlier 
stages and inspiring their hearts with the enthusiasm of 
independence than the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. 
It was the first regailar pitched battle of the Revolution 
in any of the States. It was fought by the regular colon- 
ial troops of North Carolina, in Cumberland County, 
on a branch of Cape Fear River, on the 27th of February, 
1776. The forces engaged in the campaign were the 
North Carolina troops, commanded by Col. James Moore, 
Colonels Lillington, Caswell, Martin and Ashe; and, on 
the other side, the Scotch Highlanders, commanded by 
Gen. Donald MacDonald, who was a Tory, and had been 
commissioned as General of North Carolina troops by 
the Colonial Governor. The Patriots consisted of about 
1,100, being Colonel Moore's Continentals, and the min- 
ute men from New Bern and New Hanover and militia 
from the counties of Duplin, Craven, Dobbs and Bladen, 
under Colonel Caswell ; a hundred "volunteer independent 
yagers" frorh Wilmington, commanded by Colonel Ashe, 
and a hundred and fifty minute men from Wilmington 
under Colonel lillington. The opposing force of Tory 
Highlanders, under the command of General MacDonald, 
consisted of about 1,500 men, chiefly Scotch Highlanders. 

As soon as the Loyalists began to embody at Campbel- 
ton. Colonel Moore took position at Rockfish Creek, seven 
miles down the river, and was watching the movement of 
the force under General MacDonald, and had determined 
to attack them at the first suitable opportunity. But the 
enemy, whose object was to get to Wilmington and join the 
British fleet in tbe harbor, evaded him bv crossing the river 
and passing to the eastward +o another road. Moore, 



BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE. 167 

however, directed Lillington and Caswell to concentrate 
their forces on that road near the widow Moore's bridge, 
on a creek that emptied into Black River, about thirty 
miles from Wilmington, while he hurried down to close 
in on the Highlanders. During the day and night of the 
26th of February, Colonel Lillington, who was the first 
to reach the bridge, had thrown up a breastwork com- 
manding the crossing, while the Highlanders were rapidly 
approaching from the opposite side. Colonel Caswell 
came just in time, and during the night Lillington also 
destroyed part of the bridge, removing the planks so as 
to impede the attacking party if they attempted to- cross 
the bridge. 

On the early morning of the 2Yth of February, the 
Highlanders, seeing an embankment apparently unoccu- 
pied, and supposing that the Americans had abandoned or 
were about abandoning their position, determined to at- 
tack them. They fired a mornins; gun and then charged 
furiously over the bridge, not knowing the impediment of 
its partial destruction. The patriots attacked them with 
great impetuosity while on the bridge, and totally disor- 
ganized them. Then Captain Slocumb's company crossed 
the creek lower down and attacked them in the flank, and 
the Highlanders broke and retreated. The Patriots killed 
about seventy of the enemy and took many prisoners, 
among whom was General MacDonald himself. It was a 
complete victory for the Patriots and broke the formid- 
able Tory outbreak among the Scotch Highlanders, who 
had fled from Scotland after the disastrous battle of Cul- 
loden in their home country, and made their new home in 
the Cape Fear region of ISTorth Carolina. 

Tn this first pitched battle of the Revolution, that is 
hardly known to our own people, the Patriots, under Gen- 
eral Moore, had two wounded, one of whom died. The 
Tories, under General MacDonald, lost seventy. Captain 
McLcod and Captain Campbell, of tlie Highlanders, were 
killed early in the fight on the bridge, the former of whom 
recei\'ed upwards of twenty bullets through his body. A 



1 68 grandfather's talks. 

very few miinitcs after rlio fall of tliese leadcivs the whole 
aniiy wa.s in lligiit. J\iany were drowned and many pris- 
oners were taken, General MacDonald being taken tlie next 
day. lie was commissioned as Brigadier-General and 
Oommander-in-Chi(>f in Xortli Carolina. There w-ere 
twenty-six prisoners taken, all of whom were sent on to 
the American General Congress in PhiladeliDhia. 

The importance of this signial victory of the Americans 
is f)illy recognized in the scant contemporary letters and 
]mblications. They speak of the great joy that it had 
(liifnsed in the Province, and liow great a disappointment 
it Avas to Clinton and Lord William Campbell, who were 
in Caj)e Fear Kiver in British ships of war, "in sanguine 
expectation of being joined by the defeated and routed 
Tory troops." If the fight at Moore's Creek Bridge had 
been won by the Tories under General MacDonald, all 
Kast (\irolina would have been overrun and ]U*obably 
t])(' whole Sonth wouM have been subdu('(l. 

And yet, when Senator Butler introduced a resolution 
in the I'nited States Senate proposing an appro])riation 
to aid in raising a uionument at the site of this first pitched 
battle of the Ke\-olution, some Senator asked, with lament- 
able sim])licity, wIk re the battle of Moore's ( 'reck IJridge 
was fought. Alas I alas! the schoolmastei- is abroad, but 
whc^re are the ])ens that are "mightier than tlie sword." 

It is sometimes asked why the Ilighhiiiders. wlio liad 
sustained so signal a defeat in a contest with the British 
Government at the disastrous battle of Culloden in 1745, 
should liaA'c taken u]) arms for the British Government 
against the citizens of their new home in Xorth Carolina. 
It is the old storv of the "burnt child." They liad felt 
the fire of the British arm in their old honu\ and with 
the true instinct of a cannv Scot they feared a repetition 
of Culloden. 

But time has redeenie(l their mistake in the struggle 
for independence, and the State of Xorth Carolina now 
points with pride to the descendants of the ^NFacs who fell 
at ]\roore''s Creek Brid<>T', who have since brouii'ht and 
em])tie(l into hei' loving' la)t laurels won in field and formu. 



THE BANKER PONY. l6g 

THE BANKER PONY. 
" The War Horse Snitfeth the Battle from afar."' 

TiiK horse is man's best friend. In peace he is man's 
best agent in snbduing tlie forest to the plow. He is the 
great agent of transportation and interconununication. He 
Avas a factor in the progress of the hnman race from the 
earliest period of time. He is as prominent as man in 
the chronicles of Holy Writ. 

Why, then, should he not have a place in history '( He 
has won battles. He has subdued forests. He has been 
the faithful companion of man in all his enterprises. He 
has been the inspiration of song and story and art. The 
artist has made him the emblem of death, and "Death on 
the Pale Horse" has immortalized the easel of West. The 
Arab loveth his steed. C^ivilized man cherishes his horse, 
gives ear to his intuitive knowledge of past, present and 
future events. Had the Great Creator denied man the 
power of speech, as he has the horse, the horse would have 
been his su])erior. Without speech man's reasoning would 
have been inferior to the horse's instinct. He has more 
strength, more sagacity Avithout speech, more valuable in- 
stincts and forecasts iliaii man, and in the outset of the 
race of life he starts in the race far ahead. His self-reli- 
aiic(\ tliat great factor in human ])rogress, is earlier de- 
A'elo]>od and is more tenacious. But he is denied the vocal 
])OWor, hence he takes rank next to head in the roll of 
cr(^ati()ii. 

Why, then, deny him a ])lac(^ in history to which he 
lias coiitri1)nted so much in sacre(l and profane records? 
Why close tlie doors, of fame to liiiii wlio has ofttimes 
turned the tide of l)attle and chaniicd the pathway of 
nations ? 

From Job to T^liaraoli tlie horse is a cons])ieuous sub- 
ject. 

Tlie earliest horse known in N^orth ^^^•o^ina is probably 
the bankei- ]iony, and in nil tlu^ crossings of breeds and 



170 grandfather's tales. 

the training of tlioronghbrecls, he has retained and never 
been surpassed in his peculiar characteristics of endu- 
rance and docility. When Amadas and Barlowe came to 
Roanoke Island in 1584 the pony was probably here on 
the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and was sometimes 
used by the Indians in the chase and for transportation 
purposes. He was self-supporting on the salt marshes, 
and was sometimes subjugated by the aborigines for the 
purposes of the chase. 

How" he came there, whence he came, and how long he 
had been there are still unsolved problems in the specula- 
tions of naturalists and philosophers. 

Some claim that he was brought over to America in 
the migrations of the "Lost Tribes" of Israel after their 
escape from the horsemen and chariots of the Egyptians in 
the flood-tide of the Red Sea ; and that our banker ponies 
were the remnants of the Egyptian hosts who perished 
in the Red Sea. 

This remnant of wild horses escaped the general de- 
struction and were taken by the Israelites and preserved 
by them as memorials of their preservation. When the 
lost tribes were lost in the forty years of wandering in the 
wilderness and found a home in iSTorth Carolina, long 
before Sir Walter Raleigh conceived tlie idea of trans- 
atlantic exploration, they brought the Egyptian ponies 
with them, and ever after preserved them as memorials of 
a beneficent Providence. 

Others claim that the banker pony is a development of 
the sand fiddler from the long evolution of the ages. 
They trace the marks of a remote lineage in their resem- 
blances and characteristics, as the remote ancestry of the 
blooded liorse can be traced by white spots reappearing 
among his descendants at intervals in the genealogy of the 
blood. The "fiddler," they say, is tenacious of his habi- 
tat and combatative in its defence. So is the banker pony. 
The "fiddler" is remarkable for the strength of his spinal 
column. So the banker pony. The spinal column of 
the "fiddler" is as tous;h and sinewv as a "razor-back" 



THE BANKER PONY. I7I 

porker. The spinal column of the banker pony is phe- 
nomenally tough and strong. He will pull with ease 
a burden attached to his tail that he could not move when 
attached to his shoulders. The "'fiddler" is a burrower 
in the sand, and makes his hole an asylum of refuge and 
a castle of defence. The pony will paw the sand until 
it will make a hole as deep as his body. 

But we discard all these theories as philosophical vaga- 
ries of a diseased fancy, and adopt another which has less 
imagination but more wisdom. 

When Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer, came back 
to America, after accompanying Columbus on his first 
voyage, he came in small ships ; and to economize storage 
he brought with him a few small Spanish mustang horses. 
His object was to use them in his search for that marvel- 
ous "Fountain of Youth," which was to transmute the 
dull and wasted materials of age into the vital principle 
of youth, and enable old age to put on the vigor of youth 
and retain the experience of age. De Leon landed on the 
coast of Florida in the early years of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, to accomplish his original and glorious mission, but he 
found much mosquitoes, tarantulas and alligators, but no 
Fountain of Youth ; and he went back to Spain and left 
the little mustangs to shift for themselves. They, having 
the instinct of wisdom, and not liking the sunny land in 
which insects abounded and only man was dwarfed, sought 
a more salubrious clime, migrated slowlv northward, until 
they came to the coast of Carolina, where food was abun- 
dant and insects scarce, and there, with a wisdom supe- 
rior to man's they have ever since remained, docile when 
domesticated and helpful to his human eolaborer. 



(.;KANiM-A'riii:K s talks. 



DA HE COUNTY. 

Ayo, I'all it holy j;ioiiiul. 
The soil wIuto tirst tlu\v tiinl. 

— Mrs. Ift-nuins. 



V\\\ roiiniy ol Ihirc was t'oniu'd liy a slier or ril> lakcii 
from lln' sidi's of ilio comities o\' ( "iirriliiek. Tx rrell aiul 
llvde. It lie.s eliietly alonii tlie si>at'oasi,aiul its inhabitants 
|>artake of that vitalilv. lieartin»'ss,\vliolesoiiKMlness. liealtli 
iiiess, eonlialiiN ami open liamleil liosi>iialil v wliieh alwavs 
(listinii'uislied die dwellers l>v the st>a. Manleo, its eonntv 
town, is siiualed on the liisiorie island o( jvoanoke, at tlu' 
ln>ad o( Shallow Uai; Hav, ami thoiiijii at present a town 
o\' small ]M-etensiims, nniv, in iho fntnn\ heeome the si-at 
ami eiMUi-e o\' the tishinii' iutlnstrv. .V few \cars \\i\\c 
wonderfnlly (h'velopi>d that hnsiness.^ and furnished a rieh 
treastirv to tln> )>eoph' yy\' Pare. 

Al>ont twenty years ai^o sonu' hoys playinu hy the sea 
shore m>ar ("apt' llatteras ai-eithMitaliy eatiiilit a t\wv 
laviiv tish nnknown Ind'tM-i-. Thi'y W(>ri' the tirst known ol' 
the lisli, now st> hiiilily ju't/ed, eaUed l>lm' Fish. Siwen 
teen years ago Chatmeey Meekins, a eiti/on iA' Koanoke 
Islaml. esteenuul for his enti riM-isim;- an*l exeelK-nt char- 
acter, and who t^xtinithnl honntinms hos]>itality \o his 
1'riends, and t\specially \o his friends y\[' \\\v h>iial profes- 
sii>n, set the tirst Idm^tish net in the ocean onpositt> lvt>an- 
«>ko Island. Since th(Mi Mr. .MtHd\itis has continni^l the 
htisiness, and has maih* the hariii>si catch ol' h\\\c tisii at owe 
settitiii" o( wliich mention has been maile to ns. l-'rom om> 
.settinu' lie filled and .saved :k[M)0 hine tish. The idno tish 
is om> id" tlu' nutrveis of the sea, and the tales o\' his hahits 
and pt cnliarities, nnqmvsfioneil \\o\\\ wonid, in otluM- lantls. 
)>e ('lasstnl as fahnlons tish stm-ies. lh> makes his aj^pi^ir 
ance oit the .Vlhemarle ct>ast tiwxard the last iA' No\(Mnhcr. 
lie strikes tlu i-oast oi ^'ir•:■inia aluMtt Cam^ llenr\. and 
f(dlows ir down to (^a)>o llatteras; tlu-re he follows tin' 
cnrnnit setfinc oni to sea, and then sirikinu' northwartl 



i>Aui': oiu'Nrv 



l'('|H';il^ llic rii'cuil irom (':i|H' I I ;il li'i';is. I'lu'V aw llic UT- 
vov (if llii' sc;i. riir luill (loi^s ol llic onnii. An raxciious 
,1 ■ Mil :m;u'<MMl;i mikI as sii\a_ii(' J^^ a meal a\c. Woe lo llio 
mail ov Itcasi or tisli or fowl lliai ouiiu's wiiluii rcacli of 
llii'ii' sharp faiiii's. Woo lo iho fai hacks. Toor s|iiriio(l, 
t i 111 ill, iiiirosisi iui;. oil\ . plodiorie fal hacks. \' id iiiis of ilio 
hliio lish's rai.M' ami appoi ilo. 

h'.l>liraim .\lockiiis, of Koaiioko UlaiuL has furiiishod iis 
wilh soiiu> facts ahoni llicst> fal Inu-ks so marvelous ihat 
wi- should he (jisposeil lo (|Ueslioii [hem hm lor llu' fact, 
llial our frieii'l i''|>liraiiii, iu a iie\\spa|ter coiUro\-ersv last 
vear. ahi'iii a i>liu> lisli roe, ;iiiiieil aloiie with his praclical 
know It dm', eiicoiiutered one who simlies pli\sical plit*- 
nomeiia hv ihe li^lii o( science; and when iliai coniro 
vers\ ended, w a\ ed his \'ictt>rioiis l>aiim'r o\ er a \ aii(piishe»| 
scieiil isl. 

h'al hacks ha\e a fniiiiv wav of assninini;' ji new alia.^^ 
in e\erv new loi*alilv iliiv \ isit. Far North ihev arci 
known as '".Mossv Uiinkcrs." .\s tJiev i^tM alon^- lhe\ pass 
as "■ INu'iiies." ".\ le \\'i\ is" and "i >ld W i\es," and when 
llicv I't ai'h llic Alhemarle comnI ihev are reeom\i/.ed as "hal 
itacks," and welcomed wilh l>lood\ leelh lo liospilahlo 
ihroais hv ihe insatiate hliie li^^h. riiev come in imnuMiso 
shoals. Soiiulinies, friidneiied almost lo dealli liv iheir 
pursuers, ihe\ rush upon ihe -hore in C()iinlless millions 
and seek dealli h\ iheir own \-a-.\\ acl. Sduietimes as man\ 
as liflv shoals can he seen al once, \ar\iiii^' in si/.e from a 
tiflh lo a ipiarlcr acre, reaching down live feel helow llu^ 
surface i^\ ihe sea .iiid risiu in a dense hodv a fool ahove 
it : iind the hltie lish \ isihie under lliem, peuiiinu' awav and 
rip)um; them lo pieces, ami hloodv iui; ihe oct an all around. 
Somelimes ihe mass of fal hacks is so compaci that tisher 
men have unshipped theii- rudders, placid il upon ihe i'al 
hacks, and siudd upon il iu the open sea. And somehmlv 
said that soinehod\ "did,"' ^^^■ "could," ^^v "iniuiil." or 
"hatr'stuck his oar up in ihe mass of ihe lish, and, climh 
inu up lo lilt' top o|' ihe oar. waved his hal around his 



174 grandfather's tales. 

licad, with three cheers for Tilden, Hendricks and Vance. 
Al] ].)are, now, is on the rampage for the blue-fish fray, 
and though the terror of the sea, when they meet the daring 
men of Dare they'll meet an enemy they can not conquer. 



NAGS HEAD. 
"The Land of the Blest. '\ 

We write amid historic associations. Our eye takes in 
at a glance the scenes and places where the first white 
men landed in America of whom history has preserved an 
authentic narrative. The now closed inlet through which 
Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists, under the command of 
Amadas and Barlowe, entered Roanoke Sound ; ''Ballast 
Point," where they cast anchor, where the white man and 
the red man first met face to face, with that strange and 
mysterious color line of race that hath not and can not be 
blended in harmonious unity ; the waters where they chaf- 
fered and traded with the Indians; the spot where was 
born Virginia Dare, the first white child of American 
birth, and where was first administered the rite of Chris- 
tian baptism uDon American soil : the rude fort or embank- 
ment thrown up by the ill-fated colonists as a protection 
against the attacks of hostile Indians; Croatan to which 
they went when they abandoned the fort, never to return 
or be heard of more ; Roanoke Island with its old and re- 
cent saTiguinary historical memories ; and the new town of 
Manteo, consecrated by name and locality to the memory 
of him who through all the vicissitudes of adverse fortune 
was the true and steadfast friend of the pale-faced colo- 
nists — another illustration that 

" Little deeds of kindness, 
Little words of love." 

graven by humanity upon the tablet of the heart outlive 
the proudest memorials blazoned by ambition upon th® 



NAGS HEAD. I75 

records of fame — all these lie spread out before us as a 
vast panorama. 

Nags Head has also a history, not gray with age and 
"rich with the spoils of time," but attractive in its social 
^nd domestic aspects, and in its more public character, 
connecting itself with events which have shaped the desti- 
nies of peoples, and to which time will give the enchant- 
ment that distance imparts. 

It was here, in the war of 1812, that troops under the 
command of Captain Bell, of Currituck, were stationed 
to guard the coasi and prevent the landing of the British 
forces. And here, too, in the war of 1812 lived some of 
a class of men incident to all wars, who were typified by 
that animal to which nature has denied the natural weap- 
ons with v^^hich it has armed its kind, which never "locks 
horns" with an enemy. It was here, in the war of 1861- 
1865, that Gen. II. A. Wise, of Virginia, had his head- 
quarters while in command of the troops stationed on Roan- 
oke Island, in the Spring of 1862, holding, when the disas- 
trous battle ended, the post of safety, if not of danger, and 
illustrating in his safe and precipitate personal retreat by 
the light of buildings and stores himself had fired, that 
discretion is an important element in the estimate of valor. 

But it is in its social and hygienic aspects that Nags 
Head is chiefly known and has become identified with the 
local history of this part of Eastern North Carolina. 
From that time when "the memory of man runneth not to 
the contrary" it has been the resort for health of persons 
and families living in the adjacent section. From time 
immemorial it has been the nursery of the Albemarle coun- 
try. For many years families came down and passed 
much of the months from June to October, living in rude 
and primitive style, with such accommodations as could 
be obtained among the dwellers along the coast, a plain 
and peculiar people who obtained a precarious support 
from the su])ply of fish which the waters afforded and from 
the \vrecks cast by the dangerous tempests upon the coast. 
From its accessibility and from its being a narrow part of 



176 grandfather's tales. 

the sand bank separating the sonnd from the ocean, Xags 
ITead became the resort most frecjuented by the visitors, 
and ;d)()nt tlie year 1830 some advance was made in its snni- 
iiuT comforts bv some of tlie visitors ]mtting n]) small one- 
story bouses near the sound, u])on tlie sand hills which 
dotted tbe shore in every direction. These sim]de shanty 
structures added greatly to the number and comfort of vis-" 
itors. They ])osses8ed an oxj)ansive elasticity without 
limit, and by the addition of curtains were infinitesimally 
sulxlivided for the accommodation of friends. 

The erection of a hotel building ca])able of accommoda- 
ting some 200 persons in 1838, by a com])any composed 
of citizens of Elizabetli Clity, constitutes an epoch in the 
histoi'v of ISTags Head. This event gave it a new charac- 
ter and a new departure. TLitherto it liad been the resort 
of families and their friends, occupying isolated rude ten- 
ements, with no common centre of union, but now fashion 
and gayety were tp^ttract with their enchantment a new 
class of visitors. .Youth and ])eauty, belles and beaux, 
with the romance of love and flirtatirm, added a new fea- 
ture, and every season bad its talc of nuitches made or 
bi-oken. "E ngagem ent LUIL, " about this time, derived its 
name from circumstances that its name suggests, and its 
tradition and history excel those of "KTll Diiiiil ITills" or 
"I^gs Ilead riill" in romantic and tender incidents-^ 

The career of Xags Head was an \inbroken progress of 
piv>sperity until the war of 1S(;1, which desolated the place. 
Ek'gaiit siructnrcs. the scats of social refinement and ha]i- 
piness, were gixcn o\-cr to tb< rulldcss hands of half-sav- 
fiixo negroes and a fanatic soldiery. Tlic private resi- 
dences were torn down, 'idic little cdiurcii, ai'ound which 
(dust(red so manv sacred associations, shared the same 
fate at the hands of the spoilers, and when iieace came with 
its healing wings, scenes once bright with the mingled hap- 
piness of childhood, manhood and age were naught but a 
mournful desolation, with tlie wild winds chanting the 
reuuieni of the dead i)asr anii<l tbe solitmle of the eternal 
hills. 



NAGvS HEAD. I 77 

But time Avili Iieal and tears will dry, and after an ab- 
sence of many years, with their mournful vicissitudes, we 
have come again to revisit old scenes peopled with mem- 
ories of the departed, with the old familiar land-marks 
swept off by the sand drift. The old ocean is still here, 
with the huge billows still echoing the great voice of the Al- 
mighty. We have buffeted again the same grand old 
mountain waves, swam out again beyond the breakers, and 
rested again in poise upon the bosom of the briny deep. 
That elastic kick-out of the strong swimmer, acquired in 
boyhood, clings to us tlirough life with the same tenacity 
that it clings to a 1)ull-frog. All of yore is changed ; some 
vestiges of the old liotel, built in 183S and burned in 1862, 
are still visible. 



12 



lyS grandfather's TALES. 



GOVERNOR SWAIN. 

" Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate; 
Nor set down aught in malice." 

If "WE were asked ^vllo was more distinguished in the 
public life of North Carolina for patriotism, usefulness, 
and State love, we would reply, after Zeb. Vance, our 
beloved war governor — Governor David L. Swain — the 
long-popular President of the University of IsTorth Caro- 
lina, both natives and residents of the county of Buncombe. 

Strange to say, Governor Swain was a surprise and a 
disappointment to the whole State of North Carolina 
when he was selected as President of the University. He 
was a malformation in person, out of proportion in physi- 
cal confonnation, apparently thrown together in haste 
and maniifactured from scattered debris of material that 
had been used in other work. Nature had been a most 
unkind mother to him; gawky, lanky, with a-nasal twang 
that proclaimed him an alien, and a pedal propulsion that 
often awakened derision and offended nobody's self-love. 
In addition to all these unjust gifts of nature, he was an 
unlettered man and owed nothing to the primary or higher 
schools, and so far as scholastic training goes, he was an 
ignorant man. 

And yet ho was elected to the Presidency of the oldest 
and host institution of learning in the Southern States, 
and administered its affairs longer and with more wisdom 
than any of his distinguished predecessors ; and by pre- 
cept and example during his long administration, he im- 
]iressed himself upon the sons of North Carolina as no 
other man in the State has over done — an impression that 
is shown in our mature manhood at this day, and will be 
felt in North Carolina as long as time lasts. 

It was President David T>. Swain that helped much to 
give us Zeb. Vance and iiinkc tluit iii(»st loved Carolinian 
the great man that he Avas. It was President Swain's 
bountv that enabled Vanco to secure an education at the 



GOVERNOR SWAIN. 1 79 

University of JSTortli Carolina, where he laid the founda- 
tion of his future greatness. 

When the bee of the University first buzzed in Gov- 
eft'nor Swain's bonnet, so to speak, he was himself in 
doubt as to his fitness for the Presidency of the Univer- 
sity. He had been prominent in politics, had acquired 
some distinction as a lawyer, had been a leading member 
' >f the Legislature, and was sometimes spoken of as a popu- 
lar speaker and parliamentarian. He had been elected 
Governor of the State, and when Dr. Caldwell, President 
of tlie University, died in 1835, Swain's administration 
of the State Government was about expirinsf. 

One fine fall evening the Governor was sitting alone 
in his ofiicial office on the capitol grounds in Raleigh. 
Judge ISiash passed through the grounds, and seeing Gov- 
ernor Swain sitting alone in the door of his office stopped 
in to talk with him. The Governor was in a confiding 
mood and explained to the kind Judge his situation. He 
said his term of office as Governor of the State was draw- 
ing to a close, and he was puzzled to know what he was 
going to do for a living; that it would take a long time 
for him to reestablish himself in his law practice; that he 
was never fond of la,w ■nractice • that there was nO' vacancy 
in the United States Senate from ISTorth C^arolinn. and 
would not be for several years, and that he thought of being 
a candidate for the Presidency of the University. He 
asked Judge I^ash, who was a man of literary accomplish- 
ments and legal learning, what he thought of it. The 
Judge did not reply promptlv and it was evident he did 
not think well of it. Before Judge ISTash replied the 
Governor said to him : "Well, Judge ISTash, if you will 
mention the matter to Jud"'^ Dnncan Cameron, who loves 
the University, and he disapproves of it, I will say no 
more about it." Jud^e JTash replied that he was then 
on his wav to Jiidco Cameron's to tea, and would men- 
tion the subject to him. Judge I^ash during the evening 
at Judffe Cameron's said to him that Governor Swain 
wnntofl fho appointment of President of the TTniversity, 
and asked him what he thouo'ht of it. 



l8o grandfather's TALKi:". 

Judge Cameron, after a moiuent's retlectioii, said: 
•'Well, 1 never tlioiiglit of it, but Swain is the very man 
for the place ; a man who has proven himself such a great 
manager of men would make a good manager of boys." 
The Governor was told tliis oftinion of Judge Cameron, 
and fortln\itli announced himself as a candidate for the 
place. 

When the intelligence of Governor Swain's candidacy 
for President of the University reached Cha])cl Hill the 
faculty was astounded. Dr. Mitchell, familiarly called 
''Old Mike," who A\as a pushing man, anxious for the 
place, and had an unbridled tongue, ridiculed the subject. 
Dr. Hooper, familiarly called "Old Billy," also hankered 
after the place. He was a proud man, of exquisite wit 
and liumor, and his ])ride of ancestry was sharpened by 
the (Mirr(nit of his blood that ran through nobles ever since 
the Hood. He was quiet, but in an unguarded moment let 
dro]) the remark that ''^the people of North Carolina had 
done everything they could for their ignorant Governor and 
now they wanted to send him to tlie University to be edu- 
cated." 

We had seen Governor Swain twice before he became 
President of the University. Once when ho was Gov- 
ernor, and once avIu'u he was a member of the Convention 
of is.")."), rc]iresenting Jjuncombe County. 

In that Convention, which was torn 1)y antagonistic 
factions in the State on tlie basis of representation in tlie 
(icneral Assembly, Swain was the leader of the forces of 
Wc<t('i-n Xorth Carolina. He made a great s])eech on 
that sidiject, which at one time threatened tlie unity of 
the State, and Ave listened to it with delight. He presented 
all the points in the case from the western point of view. 
It was bold, dctiant, logical, argumentative and sometimes 
ehx^uent. He was fond of Scriptural quotations, and often 
used them with great efil'ect. Once, towering in his wrath 
and raisino- his index finger as in defiance of Eastern 
Carolina, he said: ''Let our Eastern brethren beware. If 
they do not grant our peaceful appeal for a change in the 



GOVERNOR SWAIN. ibl 

basis of rc]iresentation, we will rise like tlie strong man in 
his nnsliorn might and pnll down the pillars of the polit- 
ical tem]>le." 

The subject was under discussion in the Convention for 
several days, and every Western member that spoke re- 
ferred to the Scriptural quotation of the "eloquent gentle- 
man from Buncombe." At length, Mr. Gaston addressed 
tlie Convention on the same subject. After spealving 
about an hour, he turned round and said: "The gentleman 
from Buncombe has said that if the East does not grant 
the peaceful demands of the West, they will rise like the 
strong man in his unshorn might and pidl down the pillars 
of the political temple. The strong man, the son of Ma- 
noah, was brought out from his prison to make sport for 
the enemies of his country, and do honor to the impious 
feast of Dagon. lie tugged and heaved at the massive pil- 
lars of the temple, and all were crushed in one hideous 
ruin. It was a great and a glorious deed. lie fell a mar- 
tyr and a hero, victorious among the slain." 

Xo more was heard of the eloquent gentleman's Scrip- 
tural (flotation. Gaston had spiked Swain's Scriptural 
gun. 



152 GRANDFATIIKR S TALES. 



JAMES IREDELL— W. B. SHEPARD — K EN N ETH 

RAYNER— W. N. H. SMITH— COL. HENRY 

M. SHAW. 

" Like the mother of the Grachi, when asked for her jeweLs. she 
pointed to her sons.'" 

TiTE First District of North Carolina has always been 
proud of her Representatives in the National councils. 
Looking to the Senate of the United States first, she has 
had but one member of that august body during the exist- 
ence of the Government — James Iredell, Jr. 

Mr. Iredell was the son of Justice James Iredell, of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, under the adminis- 
tration of Washington. Descended from an intellectual 
ancestry, born to distinction, and being endowed by nature 
with great genius and abilitv, he reached manhood with 
much promise of distinction in his legal profession. He 
soon acquired distinction and popularity with his fellow 
citizens, and public life sought him as a Representative in 
the General Assembly. 

He took high rank in debate in the General Assembly, 
and was the peer of Gaston, Drew, Cameron and Alfred 
Moore, and the other great men who adorned our State 
councils at that time. He was at the head of the law pro- 
fession in the First Judicial District, and at an early age 
was transferred to the Circuit Bench. 

Some years after, he was elected Governor of North 
Carolina by the Legislature. At the expiration of his 
term as Governor, he was elected to the United States 
Senate, to succeed Nat. Macon : and in that body he main- 
tained a high position. It is said that he was selected to 
reply to Mr. Webster, in tlie celebrated debate on nulli- 
fication, and his place was, in consequence of Iredell's sick- 
ness, supplied by Hayne, of South Carolina. He died at 
the age of sixty-five, when attending the Courts of the 
First District. 

William B. Shepard was a native of New Bern, N. C. 
After coming of age, he removed to Camden County, where 



SHEPARD — RAYNER. 1 83 

he had large landed estates, and after obtaining his law 
license he practiced his jDrofession in that county with 
great success for several years. 

After living some time in Camden, he made his home in 
Elizabeth City. Always interested in public affairs, study- 
ing politics from its highest standpoint, he took part in 
public discussions and became known to the people of the 
District as an able and accomplished man. 

Lemuel Sawyer then represented the District in Con- 
gress, and had been in Congress for several years. Shep- 
ard was put in nomination by his friends as an opponent 
of Sawyer, and was elected over him in 1829, and con- 
tinued in office for eight years ; and while a member of 
Congress for eight years he became the undisputed leader 
of tlie North Carolina delegation in Congi*ess. He was 
gifted as an orator, conservative as a statesman, and a gen- 
tleman in all his instincts and intercourse. He volunta- 
rily retired from Congress. 

He then, witli ample means and leisure, led the life of 
a gentleman of leisure, attending the Courts of the local 
bar, and often elected to the Legislature as Senator and 
Representative. 

He was often spoken of for United States Senator from 
North Carolina, and aspired to the position, and was fitted 
for it. In 1845 he was the competing candidate before 
the Legislature with George E. Badger, and his friends al- 
ways thought that he would have been chosen if his speech 
accepting the situation had been made before his defeat. 
After that, his interest in public affairs diminished, and n 
seemed to be looked at by him from afar. He occasionally 
was elected to the Legislature, and some time in the fifties 
his health gave way, after the deatb of his second wife, and 
he departed for the "undiscovered country" with the love 
and admiration of his countrymen. 

Kenneth Kayner was a lion in his early manhood. In 
its maturity his "vaulting ambition o'erleaped itself," and 
he fell, and in age he was poor and disappointed, forgotteii 
bv his old friends, havino" deserted them for new friends 



1 84 grandfathkk's talks. 

that he liad always despised. At his death, his life became 
the burden of a moral and a tale. His memory is full 
of sadness, and recalls tlu,' words of the preacher, ''Vanity 
of vanities! vanity of vanities! all is vanitv !" Alas! 
once the popular idol, honored, loved, flattered and ca- 
ressed. A great leader, bold, daring, unflinching. True 
to his friends, deliant to his enemies, loving A'orth Caro- 
lina with his heart's devotion. 

''Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away and>i*^'' ■"■'-'. By 
that sin fell the angels." By that sin fell Kenneth Ray- 
ner. ^'Oh ! what a fall was there, my countrymen !'"' 

William N. H. Smith, of Murfreesboro, was a good and 
a great lawyer. He stood at the head of his profession. 
He rose to the (_^hief .Justiceship of North Carolina. He 
took high rank in social position. In private life he was 
without ]'e])roach. In ]3ublic and official life he was with- 
out a superior. He died in liarness, in advanced age, 
Avith honors thick upon him, and left a memory that was 
without spot or blemisli. 

Col. Henry ]\I. Shaw was a native of Khode Island, but 
a citizen of iSTorth Carolina all of his mature life. At an 
early age he became an imnate of the family of Dr. Gid- 
eon Merchant, of Currituck County, and from tluit Gama- 
liel of Democracy he imbibed those politicnl ])i'inci|ilos wit'i 
wliicli he was always identified. 

1^'rom tlic time when lie commenced tlie ]u-;i('tice of med- 
icine, he rose rapidly in ]U'actice and became very success- 
ful. But he was always an ardent y)oliticiau. and soon be- 
came a leader in the Democratic councils and a public 
s])eaker in ])olitica] campaigns. 

He had great readiness as a public s])eaker, and was 
tlie most loo-ical, forceful and (hdiberate that we ever lis- 
tened to. He was thorouahlv posted upon political and 
general subjects. He l)ecaiiic pi-ominent for Consjressional 
honors, and was put in iKiininatinn as the candidate of the 
Democratic party. 

His election followcil liis nomimition, and he made a 
most excellent, obliging' and abb' Tfepresentative. He went 



HENRY M. SHAW. 1 85 

to Coiig-ress in a stoniiy period. The clond-burst that 
drenched onr country in blood was already portentous with 
forked liglitning and rumbling thunder. Soon after, he 
left (congress to cast his lot with his troubled countrymen. 

At the outbreak of the war, Colonel Shaw was tendered 
the command of the 8tli Regiment of iN^orth Carolina 
Troops, which he promptly accepted. He entered the 
held at once. He was captured in the defence of Roanoke 
Island, where, after a gallant defence in a fight with over- 
powering numbers, he surrendered to a hopeless fate, after 
being flanked on both sides. 

After his parol was out, he returned to his post of duty 
and danger, and at the battle of Bachelor's Creek, near 
New Bern, on the 1st of February, 1864, Colonel Shaw 
sealed his devotion to his country with his life. He was 
killed by a rifle ball while reconnoitering the enemy. 



1 86 grandfather's tales. 



WILLIAM W. CHERRY. 

" Friend of my youth, 
Great mind of wondrous gifts " 

Cherry was distingniislied at the University more for 
his rollicking disposition and for making the ''Old South" 
ring with the echo of his voice, than for his studious habits. 
He was seldom on time at the beginning of a session, and 
once, on his way to the University, at the beginning of a 
session, he fell in with a party of companionable friends, 
not students, and went down to Fayetteville with them, 
reaching the University to join his class when the session 
was well advanced. But he managed by his genius and 
good nature to keep up with the class until his graduation. 

Leaving the University, he returned to his home in 
Windsor, Bertie County, and after some delay entered upon 
the legal profession, of which he became a leading member. 
He was a great advocate, remarkable for his readiness, his 
admirable presentation of the facts of a case, and had a 
most magnetic influence with a jury. He was not a great 
lawyer, a profound lawyer, with a thorough and accurate 
and comprehensive knowledge of precedent and authority, 
versed in the deep subtleties of the law, its intricacies and 
discriminations, and capable of dividing a hair " 'twixt 
north and northwest side," but he was a thorough master 
of the facts of a case. He could turn and twist them, 
presenting them in every shade and complexion and aspect, 
and making them luminous to the plainest understanding. 
His language, the vehicle of his thought, was wonderful, 
and the play of his ch a naming expression of countenance 
gave great force to it. His manner was natural and easy, 
his action perfectly unaffected and suited to the word, 
and his voice was charminc; to listen to, not the mellow 
deep-toned voice of the trained elocutionist, but one that 
won by its sympathetic and kindly tones. It was a voice 
that drew his hearers to him and made them kin. When 
he was about to use a pleasantry, his face was lighted from 



WILLIAM W. CHERRY. 1 8/ 

ai'ar, and his voice chanjO'ed and his audience was led along 
and prepared for it. 

Mr. Cherry was an active politician of the Whi^ school. 
He was a partisan without bitterness. When the Whig 
party was first known by that name, the Democratic, Jack- 
son party, was largely in the ascendant in Bertie. Cherry 
took his fiddle, on which he was an expert, and canvassed 
tlie county in all the highways and by-ways, and by his 
pleasantry and honhommie won them largely over into 
the Whig ranks. 

In tlie Harrison campaign of 1840, he was a great 
power. He attended the Wiiig National Convention at 
Harrisburg that nominated General Harrison, and it is 
believed that he first turned to account for General Har- 
rison the "hard-cider and coon-skin" jeer, upon which the 
campaign so lare-elv turuerl '^ that politic'"! storm. He 
certainly was the first that used it in Eastern N"orth 
Carolina, stating in a log-cabin speech in Edenton, soon 
after his return from Harrisburg, that he had first seen 
the taunt in Baltimore on his return from the ISTational 
Convention, and used it in tlie campaign. In that cam- 
paign Cherry was the great bulwark of Whiggery in the 
First District. He spoke everywhere to large crowds, 
and gained votes. Shepard, and Rayner, and Outlaw, 
and Speed, and Allen, and Tom Jones w^ere his compeers 
and supporters. He was elected from the county of Ber- 
tie to the Legislature of IN^orth Carolina for the first time 
in tlie public service in that 3^ear. He was then but little 
known out of the District, but we lieard Judge Moore say, 
about that time, that Cherry would be a thorn in the side 
of the Democrats in the Legislature. 

A little incident may be mentioned illustrating; his readi- 
ness. He went to Kaleigh to the Legislature by way of 
Warrenton. Arriving in Warrenton at nis^ht, a stranger, 
he joined a group of Warrentonians around the fire of the 
public room of the hotel and soon joined them in a polit- 
ical talk, they beinc; all Democrats of the Warren County 
type, he taking the Whig side. The stranger, plainly 



l88 GKANDFATHKk'S TALES. 

clad, and not imposing in person, aot tlic l)est of the argu- 
ment, and the Warrentonians looked at him with some 
astonishment. Failing in argiinieiit, they fell back on 
an anthority which settled all (piestions in Warren County. 
They (pioted Kat. Macon in confirmation of their opinions, 
supposing that no one would dare gainsay what Mr. Ma- 
con had said. Cherry dissented from Mr. Macon's opin- 
ion, and, to the surprise of others, spoke lightly of jthat 
great man. The Warrentonians i)romptly retorted that 
John Randolph, in his will, had said that "]S^at. Macon 
was the wisest man he had ever known." At that time a 
suit Avas pending in the Court of Appeals, at Richmond, 
contesting Mr. Randol]ih's will, chiefly upon the groiuid 
of insanity. Cherry, in reply to the quoted opinion of 
the eminent Virginian, said : "Mr. Randolph's Avill is 
contested in Richmond now, upon the ground of insanity, 
and T think the strongest proof of his insanity is that he 
said that ^at. Macon was a wdse man." 

^Ir. Cherry was once in a public meeting at Gatesville, 
in the court-house, and there was some difficulty with the 
chairman in determining a question that was submitted to 
vote. The ayes and noes were called. 'Not satisfactory. 
Divide. N^ot satisfactory. The ayes Avill go to one side 
of the house and the noes to the other. Cherry called out 
to the ayes, of which he was one, to seize the noes and 
carrv them over to their side of the house. It was a 
scuffling vote that was some hours in the determination. 
Finally, the pantin"- ayes "a])peared to have it, the aves 
had it." This illustrates Cherry's pleasantry. 

Tn 1844, Cherry was the Clay Presidential elector op- 
]iosed by an able champion of Democracv, Thomas Bragg, 
afterward Governor. Tt was the battle of the giants. 
Cherry stood his cTound and maintained his uosition with 
iireat abilitv. "Braga' was a battle-axe. Cherry was a 
scimeter. He carried the District. 

Tn 184fi, Mr. Cherrv was uomiiiated for Concress by 
th(^ Whiff C*onvention that met in Edenton. Tie Avas nom- 
innte<l Avithout o]i]-)Ositioii, and aft(>r beinc introduced, de- 



WILLIAM W. CHERRY. 1 89 

livered a speech of great power and interest. We, tlien 
a yonng- man with a fresh license, being Secretary of the 
Convention, reported, in brief, Mr. Cherry's speech. After 
writing" it out from oiir notes, we submitted it to him, and, 
after his approval, sent the proceedings of the Convention, 
^^'ith tlie speech reported in full, to the Raleigh Eegister 
for puldication. The same paper which contained the 
proceedings of the Convention, contained the notice of 
his death. He died while attending Northampton Court, 
the week after his nomination, at the early age of forty- 
three years. 

" What hhadows we are and what shadows we pursue." 

Ml". Cherry Avas small in person, with a rather large 
head and a winning expression of face that won all hearts. 
Nature had not been kind to him in his personal make-up, 
of which he frequently jested. His face was angular, his 
hair coarse and stiff, and he was negligent of his dress. 
To be plain, he was unmistakably ugly. But he had all 
the virtues that we love and admire, with no counteracting 
\'ices. He was a most charming and attractive com^ian- 
ion, and the District sustained a great loss in his untimely 
death. 



190 grandfather's tale:s. 



THE MINISTERS OF GOD. 

'• Pointing up to Heaven, 
They led the way." 

The pulpit of North Carolina has furnished saintly 
men who were the leaders of public thought in matters 
relating to godliness, and who hj wise counsel and burning 
words have made the world the better for their living. 

Among these great men no one has been more con- 
spicuous than Rev. Thomas Atkinson, Bishop of the Dio- 
cese of North Carolina of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
He was a native of Virginia, and was elected to the Epis- 
copate of North Carolina after the apostacy of Bishop 
Ives. He was elected in the early fifties. It was a most 
fortunate selection, and God's wise guidance was manifest 
in it. He was a comparative stranger to the Convention 
that made the selection. He was elected after many bal- 
lotings, over men who had a large following and who 
ranked among the most distinguished theologians, and were 
n great force in the sacred desk. The time when he came 
was inauspicious. The blow given to the Church by an 
apostate Bishop was not yet healed. But his coming was 
a benediction. It soothed and cemented factions, and 
every one became satisfied. He was soon recognized as 
one of the princes of the pulpit, a godly man, Avithout 
guile or selfishness, of kindly social instincts, firm without 
dogmatism, and learned without ostentation ; imposing in 
person, graceful in action, effective in oratory, simple and 
natural in every act. His sermons were models of every 
eloquence ; masterful in argument, forceful in logic, touch- 
ing in pathos. Every subject he touclied, he invested with 
a new and sacred interest. His sermon on "Necessity and 
Free Will" was the clearest and most profound exposition 
of that most intricate^ religious puzzle we ever listened to. 

Turnina: from this brief refercnice to this eminent ser- 
vant of God, wo select Dr. Thomas H. Pritchard, the dis- 
tinguished Baptist minister, as a star of brightest lustre 
in the firmament of the clergy. 



THE MINISTERS OF GOD. I9I 

Dr. Pritchard was a Henderson on the maternal side of 
liis lineage, and that means strength in intellectuality, pro- 
fundity in thought, taste and elegance in diction, and the 
most charming gifts of social intercourse. Scratch the 
soil in "North Carolina where great men grow, wherever 
you will, and you will find a Henderson there. The stock 
is indigenous to North Carolina, and it has illustrated 
every department of its intellectual life. Dr. Pritchard 
was no exception to this unvarying rule. 

We first met Thomas Pritchard when he was a stu- 
dent of the Baptist ministry and a private tutor in the 
family of Richard Felton, a wealthy planter in the county 
of Perquimans. We spent a week with him, and had 
frequent conversations with him. To us he then gave 
little promise of the great factor he was afterwards to 
heeome in the pulpit and councils of the Baptist Church 
in North Carolina. He was modest, retiring and diffident. 
^Ve thought him too much so. He seemed deficient in 
strength of conviction, and too ready to acquiesce in sug- 
gestions on religious and other subjects before he had suf- 
ficiently examined them. 

Forty years from that time, we were in attendance at a 
Baptist Association, sitting in the far-end of the church, 
near the pulpit, in which its annual session was held. 
Way down at the lower door of the church a portly man 
came in, and he was soon greeted by friends who came up 
and shook hands with him. His step to the end of the 
church, where we sat, was an ovation. We saw at once 
that a big man's shadow was over the crowd. His person 
and manner were imposing and in admirable taste. He 
had a kind "word for this and that brother as he approached 
us. As he came near, the word "brother," as it came from 
his lungs in deep sonorous tones, fell on our ear. We 
scanned him closely as he came. That man must be a 
Henderson, thought we; we can see our old Aleck all 
over him. Then Ave looked at him through the glasses 
of forty years, and we could see glimmering through the 
darkness the modest Tom Pritdiard that we had 



192 GRANDFATHKR S TALES. 

passed a week with at Kicliard Felton's forty years before. 
When he reached onr place, he swung around in a seat 
just in advance of us. 

iVfter he had rested awhile, we rose, stood before him, 
and extended our hand ; and he, not recognizing us, we 
asked if he knew us. lie said not, and then said enquir- 
ingly, ''Who is the brother ?" We replied, "jSTot a brother, 
a lirst cousin, perhaps." We then gave him our name, 
and he said with much heartiness, ^'God bless me I Dr. 
Tom Martin and I w-ere talking about you last week, when 
we went fishing," 

We saw much of Dr. Pritchard afterwards, and heard 
his admirable addresses on education after he became 
President of Wake Forest College. His public speeches 
were models of excellence. His voice was a bugle call, 
his elocution was graceful and tasteful, and every sen- 
tence he uttered was the exjiression of a great truth. 

Among the pioneers of Wesleyan Methodism no one's 
memorv is held in higher estimation for his usefulness, his 
exemplary Christian character, and his efficient labors as 
a faithful minister of God than Louis Skidmore. He was 
emfiliatically a good man, a good and influential preacher, 
and his mellow voice wdth its sweet intonations melted 
hearts to tenderness and won them to the paths of a Chris- 
li'aii life. 

Wlien a siuall ]n)\\ liardly in onr teens,, it was our good 
fortune, when away at School, to board with a pious Meth- 
odist family in the town of Oxford. Their house was 
the hospitable home of all Methodist preachers. ]^one 
was more welcome than Louis Skidmore, and no one 
contributed more to the happiness of the household. His 
voice was an Eolian harp, with a bugle attachment. The 
old Methodist hymns of eighty years ago he had at his 
tongue's end. lie often preached in ihe village church, 
and lie would brini>,- an audience to its feet when he uttered 
the sweet notes of the ''Old Ship of Zion," or some other 
rally hymn of tlu> (^Iden time. He conld wake a shouting 
revi\'al at any time by his powers of song. 



THE MINISTERS OF GOD. 1 93 

Other names of great pulpit power in North Carolina 
I -rowd upon us. Dr. Hawks was a born orator, and a man 
of genius without the nose of a historian. Quentin Trot- 
man was a great master among men. President Wingate, 
of Wake Forest College, was a pulpit orator of superior 
uifts and an unequalled executive officer. 

Rev. Thomas Lowe, of Halifax, whom we never met, 
is pronounced by competent judges a paragon of oratory; 
;ind Dr. Closs, the greatest and best of men. 



'3 



194 GRANDFATHER S TALES. 

UNION LEAGUE AND KU KLUX KLAN. 
Gorgons, Hydras and Chimeras dire. 

TifE history of North Carolina is full of civil and mil- 
itary revolutions, social convulsions and upheavals that 
threatened at times her existence as an organized govern- 
ment ; but there has been no civil and social convulsion in 
her history that equals in horror and atrocity tlie sad scenes 
that threatened the peace and happiness of our people in 
the time of reconstruction and Freedman's Bureau that 
followed as a sequel to the unhappy "War between the 
States." 

After the war, with the passions and bitterness of the 
sanguinary conflict still burning with unabated fury, the 
more unrelenting elements of the North seemed to turn 
their swords, yet reeking with slaughter, into reaping 
liooks of gain, gleaners in the desolated harvest fields of 
a conquered enemy. The South was overrun with JSTorth- 
ern emissaries, some animated by a feeling of sincere 
])]iilanthro])y, stimulated by the ardor of a fanatic crusader, 
and with a charitable desire to elevate a race whom they 
had been trained Iw romance and song to believe had been 
Vept in subjugation by long oppression and torture, and 
who needed only a helping hand to be lifted to a plane of 
(■(|uality with the best Caucasian blood of the South. Some 
came to spy out tlie nakedness of a land overrun by the for- 
times of war ; but generally from a desire of gain and to 
gather u|) tlie fi-agments that were left of a luxury that 
liad once adonu d n laud tliaf bloomed witli wealth and 
]ia])])incss. 

They found a race, hilcly ('iiiancijjatedjiajtin-, credulous, 
iguoraut ami easily deceived. They becauie their leaders, 
and iu many cases inflamed the passions of the late slaves 
against their old masters. They established secret orders 
or lodges, which fitted the nature of the late slaves, ad- 
mitt.(>d them to membershi)) and inspired them with wicked 
and diabolical purposes. 



UNION LEAGUE AND KU KLUX KLAN. 1 95 

The L'nion Leai>iie was the first fruits of this invasion 
of tlie South after its desolation and sorrow of an unsuc- 
cessful four years' war. It combined various elements of 
our much-mixed population — philanthropists, carpet-bag 
adventurers, some native Union men, negroes, and others 
led by sheer curiosity. It soon produced legitimate fruits. 
Southern men of high character were objects of vengeance. 
Barns were burned ; their owners were sometimes shot in 
llie (Uirkness as they ran out to extinguish the flaanes ; ne- 
groes were urged to pillage and plunder ; and there was a 
reioii of ap]>rehension and terror. 

This condition of disorder ])roduced its natural results. 
Proud, intelligent and patriotic men, crushed to earth by 
combinations that they were powerless to resist, deter- 
mined to accouiplisli by artifice what they could not do 
by o])en resistance. 

The\' knew the negro character better than the new 
comers, of wliom they were the dupes. They knew their 
caution, theii- su]K-rstition, and their timidity. 

A new ]U"otective secret organization had been started 
in Pulaski, Tenn., and had acquired a local Celebris}', 
and had sought an extension in North Carolina. It was 
c'alled the order of the "Ku Tvlux Klan." It was consid- 
ered ])y onr wisest, most fearless and patriotic leaders. 
A l)rancli of the order was soon established in some of our 
western counties, and its ritual, regalia, masks and pass- 
words were ado]:)ted. Its o])erations were by night, and 
its visitations and equipment struck terror into the super- 
stitious minds of the negro race. It acted well for some 
time and had a sahitary influence in the counties where 
the outlawry prevailed. But excess followed the succ3ss 
of the order, and these excesses were greatly exaggerated. 

Govcu'nor Tlolden, of Raleigh, then held the office of 
Governor of NTorth Carolina. Either influenced by fear 
of his own safety or bv love of display and authority, 
he issued a proclamation, putting the counties in which the 
Xu Ivlux were operatinq; under martial law and suppress- 
ino' all civil law, intending to break up tlie order by the 
Tiile of his OAvn autocratic will. 



196 grandfather's tales. 

In the central counties lie arrested some of the most 
distinguished citizens of the State, imprisoned tliem with- 
out trial, and tortured them in the most cruel manner, to 
extort confessions that might implicate others as members 
of the Ku Klux order. He called to his aid outlaws and 
desperadoes from East Tennessee, invested one Kirk, from 
Tennessee, who had been a bufl'aloe in the Confederate 
war, with autocratic authority to arrest and punish as he 
might please any persons that he should suspect of being 
in any way connected with the Ku Klux organization. 
Kirk was a willing and a ready agent of Holden. He 
imprisoned old men, gray-headed, distinguished for long 
and patriotic service to the State, such men as Judges 
Roane and Carr, and subjected them to inhuman treat 
iiient. 

Tlic whole State was nronsed. The Supreme Court 
was appealed to to issue a writ of habeas corpus and have 
the persons brought before the State Courts. The writ 
was issued, but Holden refused to "five heed to it. The 
(^liief Justice was appealed to to enforce its execution, 
Init he declined to enforce it. 

At lengtli Judge Georo-e W. Brooks, of Elizabeth City, 
a Federal Judge of great firmness and integrity of char- 
acter, finding his authority in a Federal statute, issued 
a writ of liabeas corpus for the imprisoned citizens : and 
he served the State with a courageous fidelity which, 
though appreciated at the time, has never yet been duly 
honored by the State of ISTorth Carolina. 

The Democratic Legislature of 1870, early in the ses- 
sion, properly passed a bill of impeachment against Gov- 
ernor Holden, and impeached him for high crimes and 
misdemeanors for his conduct in the Ku Klux matters : 
and after a long judicial examination, convicted him, 
expelled him from his high ofiice, and made him incapable 
of holding office thereafter in the State. He lived to 
advnuced age, a pitiable old mnu, an object-lesson in Care 
Una histoiT of the punishment that awaits an evil-doer. 



WEvSTERN SCENERY. 1 97 

Vv'ESTERN SCENERY. 
Pelioii })iled on Os.sa. 

Were you ever among the moiintains of Madison Coun- 
ty, North Carolina 'i If not, go ; and you will see old nature 
in her grand majesty, and if not pompous and proud, you 
will feel the littleness and humility of humanity. You 
will feel like a pigmy among giants and will involun- 
tarily breathe the Scripture — ''Oh, God ! what is man, 
tliat Thou art mindful of him : or the son, of man that Thou 
regardest him ?" 

You look around, see nature in her august majesty; 
you feel your own littleness and your kinship to the 
worm tliat crawleth on the earth. Look around you and 
wonder ! You are in the "Land of the Skies," six thou- 
sand feet above sea-level, with mountains piled on moun- 
tains all around you, and tinkling rills dancing to the 
monotone of their melody in the valleys below ; a sight 
lovely, picturesque and grand beyond description to the 
dwellers in the alluvial plains. 

Put yourself in Waynesville, look around at the moun- 
tain peaks piled on mountain peaks, and cast youi' 
glance on Pigeon River below, as it goes gur- 
gling and singing to the sea. We once stood among 
those scenes, and a half-tone photograph of them 
still lingers fresh and undimmed upon our memory. It 
read us a sermon in rocky mountain cliffs that we have 
never forgotten. 

While there, we went, with an old bear hunter of the 
mountains for a guide, to the mountain peaks near by. 
His name was Wid Medford. He was guide, pilot and 
yarner of Lickstone Mountain. We saw the eagle in his 
eyrie, and saw our ISTational l)ird in his domestic sur- 
roundin2;s, with his eye like Mars commanding the sun 
below him. Every glance of the eye from that land 
that kissed the skies was an anthem and a poem. But 
amid all that grandeur of nature that gave us foretaste of 



198 grandfathkr's tales. 

the grandonr of that higher destiny id which we aspire, 
there was a grotesque piquancy in the stories related to 
us by our guide, of "hair-breadth escapes" by flood and 
liehl, of deadly grapple with the beasts of the forest in their 
lioiues in the mountain gorge and jungle, and other inci- 
dents of sixty-five years of a wild hunter's life of peril 
that brought us back to the realities of this mundane 
S])]iere. 

The fluency with which Wid reeled off his stories re- 
called the aphorism of the "twice-told tale." Some of them 
we can never forget. Pardon one of them. 

Wid had been wandering for some days among the 
mountain ])oaks and canyons of Lickstone in a vain 
search fVir a ])anther whose unaccustomed scream he had 
heard some nights before. While pursuing this lead, 
he saw, by signs well knoA\'n to a mountain hunter's prac- 
ticed eye, that he was near the canij^ing grounds of several 
large bears, lie followed the trail slowly and carefully. 
The siffns a-rew more and more numerous. Here would 
be seen a broken lim1\ ther(^ the berries Avere lapped, and 
again tliei-e was a ))ansc at a jxxd to take a "wallow" bath. 
He saw l)y studyino' the hunter's al]ihabet that tliere were 
three liears in the herd — an old dam and two well-grown 
cubs. He soon scented them, and approached them on 
the leeward side and saw three bears lapping chestnuts in 
the top of a large cliestnut tree. His anununition had 
been exhausted to two charges in the l)arrels of ''Old 
Betsy." They lapped apart, and he could not hope to 
bring down three bears with two loads. He manoeuvered 
dexterously for some time, but could never get them in 
range. At length lie determined to secure two of them 
with his two loads, discharged in quick succession. "Bang! 
went 'Old Betsy,' " said he, "and down tumbled one. 
Bang I she re]-»eat('d, and down came another." The tliird 
one staid up the tree, at first in wild anuizement. At 
length he climbed down slowly. Wid secreted him- 
self at the bottom of the tree, drew liis Imtcher knife, and 
when bonr number tliivM' canio witliin reach of him he 



WESTERN SCENERY. ' 1 99 

clasped him in his arms and cut his thruat, and then se- 
cured him. Some one in our party, bolder than the rest, 
said : ''Wid, you know that's a lie." To which Wid re- 
]>lied, with g-reat earnestness and fervor, " 'Fore God, it's 
a living- truth, and if the bear was here he'd tell you so." 

While we remained and wandered among the wondec- 
ful scenes of the mountains, that wondrous ''Land of the 
Skies," where the devout man may d^vell in contemplation 
of heavenly scenes, we saw many things which yet we love 
To linger on. We were much pleased with a little church, 
we saw — ''Grace Church in the Mountains." It is a me- 
morial church for a little grandchild of Bishop Atkinson, 
:) daughter of Dr. Buell. It is built of black walnut, 
curled black walnut, poplar, ash and oak, and is a gem. 
The furniture of the church was made of black walnut 
and manufactured in Waynesville. It will seat about 
two hundred persons. One of the windows, a memorial 
A\'indow, was presented by the good Bishop. 

We did not see, but heard of a Presbyterian church in 
the near vicinity of Waynesville that was built entirely 
of one poplar tree, and enough timber was left o\ er 01 
tlu^ tree to fence in the yard. The tree was teii feet across 
the stump. This may seem to savor of ]\[unchausen, but 
we heard the fact frequently mentioned, and it was vouched 
for by ]iersons of unquestioned veracity. 



200 ' GRANDFATHKR S TALES. 



GENERAL J. J. PETTIGREW. 

Twine a few sad cypress leaves around the brow of any land, and 
it becomes lovely in its consecrated c^oronet of sorrow. 

—Father Ryan. 

DuRiisrcT his absence in Europe, Pettigrew had devoted 
mnch study to military science. The conviction upon his 
mind before his last visit to Europe and during his ab- 
sence, was strong and decided that a bloody crisis im- 
pended over his own country, and that the muttering thun- 
ders of war which had so long threatened its peace, which 
several times had been averted by the patriotic and earnest 
efforts of those to whom the country turned with confi- 
dence in times of difficulty and listened with reliance and 
trust to their peaceful counsels, could be calmed no longer. 
While they lived, while the venerable patriots whose life- 
long service had been given to their country and whose 
patriotism and devotion to the whole and every part of it, 
none could question, the storm of sectional strife had been 
often allayed ; so often, indeed, that the conviction became 
general of a special good providence which held the favored 
land in the hollow of its hand and would bear it safely 
on over the surging billows of domestic discord. But 
the trusted hands that had so long held the helm and guided 
the ship when tossed by the tempest of political strife 
were cold in death, the voices so potent to calm the angry 
waves of sectional commotion were hushed, and the calm 
and peaceful counsels, left as a legacy to their eountr^Tnen, 
were forgotten, or really unheeded by the maddened and 
reckless zealots of party, urged on by desperate partisans 
who, unmindful of the perils that threatened, sought the 
triumph of sectional success oven nt the price of fraternal 
blood and a mined country. 

With the conviction firmly impressed upon him tliat the 
slumbering fires of long years of angi'y contention could 
not be much longer suppressed, and that, studied by the 
ordinary manifestations of our nature and the lights fur- 



GEN. J. J. PETTIGREW. 20I 

nislied bj the lessons of history, the theatre of contention 
must soon be transferred from legislative halls to tented 
fields, and political questions, to which the statesman- 
ship and patriotism of the times were unequal, must be 
determined by armed battalions amid the realities of war, 
Pettigrew began his work of preparation for the anticipated 
conliiet of arms. While in Paris he had op23ortunities of 
military study and obsei*vation in that metropolis of war, 
of which he Avas not unmindful. He had been favorably 
introduced to those who had become distinguished in the 
art of war, and the chief purpose of his visit being well 
understood, he had such advantages of acquiring knowledge 
of the science of war and its practical details as are sel- 
dom afforded. Upon his return to Charleston, he was 
elected captain of a ritle company, which he organized 
and formed after the plan of the French Zouave model, 
with the efficiency of which mode of drill he had been 
much pleased in France. The company soon attracted 
much attention. Its novelty, and the spirit with which it 
was animated, won the commendation of the city of 
Charleston. It became a model military organization, and 
was regarded as the best of the volunteer companies in 
South Carolina. Nor was it a mere mimic pageant of 
war. It was the serious and earnest offspring of Petti- 
grew's conviction of the necessity of preparation. Th? 
portents were all ominous of the dreadful future, and a 
prudent forecast dictated preparation for coming events 
of serious and alarming magnitude. For this purpose the 
rifle company was formed. It was soon joined by other 
volunteer organizations, formed after the same model, 
and Pettigrew was elected Colonel of the First Rifle Regi- 
ment. 

And now the time, so long deferred, had come. So 
lono- deferred that many thouc:ht a special providence 
iruarded the destiny of the country, to bear it safely 
through all political perils, and avert the dire calamity of 
war. Deferred by the earnest exertions of patriotic licarts, 
by the eloquent appeals of trusted statesmen, by the sin- 



202 GRANDKATHKR'S TALES. 

cere prayers of the faithful, l)j the proud memory of the 
past and the bright hopes of the future of our country. 
But it cuuld he deferred no longer. The fiat of the Om- 
nipotent luid been uttered in the wrath of God and the 
decree was to be sealed with the lives of martyred heroes 
and patriots, and the record made eternal in the inex- 
tinguishable baptism of blood. Where the fault, or upon 
whose shoulders rests the burden of the great sin and its 
grievous sequences, this is not the occasion to encpiire. l^et 
it be buried, so far as feeble mortals may, until nations, as 
individuals, shall stand around the throne and at the 
judgment bar of the Great Eternal God, and answer for 
all the deeds done while in the body. 

I"])on the se<'ession of South Carolina, Pettigrew imme- 
diately oiTered his regiment for military service. Upon 
the occujiatiou of Fort Sumter bv Major Anderson, Petti- 
grew was assigned the command of Castle Pinckney, and 
\vas afterward transferred to Morris Island, in order to 
ju'event the reinforcement of Fort Sumter by the Gov- 
(^rnment of the United States. The unexpected occuimrion 
of Fort Sumter by Major Anderson, under cover of 
nigbt. proci])itatod events. Pettigrew was ordered by Gov- 
ernor Pickens to deuuiud of Anderson the evacuation of 
tlie I-'oi't, as its occupation was in violation of an agree- 
ment tiiat the situation of Charleston harbor should re- 
main uuelianged and await the efforts to avert the impend- 
ing troubles. Tlie result of that demand we liive in Pet- 
tigrew's own words, in a letter to Governor Pickens: 

"To F. 11 '. Firl-cns. Govern 07', etc. 

'^Siit :- — T lia\t^ the honor to report that ])ursuant to the 
instructions of your Excellency, T proceeded this morning 
to Fort Sumter in company with ^laj. Ellison (\a]iers, 
Actinc .'\<ljntant of my Regiment. 

"We were court(>ously recei\-eil by ^Fajor Anderson, the 
commanding oiTicer. 

'T stated to him in the presence of all of his ofiicers that 
you had been astonished at the reception of the news of 



gp:n. j. j. phttigrew. 203 

his liavinij,' transferrt'd his garrison to Fort Sumter, that 
hv the nndc-rstandiiiti' bcrwepn the State of South Caro- 
lina and the President of the Ignited States, the property 
of tlie United States was to be resj^ected, and on the ■.."itliev 
side the military posts should remain in an unchanged 
condition, in a word that the question was to be consid- 
ered a ])olitical, and not a military one. I enforced upon 
him strongly tlu^ fact that we had ]mnctiliously performed 

"'He declined acceding to my demand. 
re]iressed every attempt to precipitate the ])eople upon the 
property of the United States, and I demanded in yt.ur 
name that affairs shonld be restored to their preyious con- 
dition. 

"He replied that he was a Southern man in his feelings 
u]')on the questions at issue, and had so informed the de- 
partment when appointed ; that he knew nothing of the 
agi'eement mentioned ; that he was the Military Com- 
raander of all the forts in the harbor and did not consider 
tliat he had re-enforcod them in merely transferring his 
garrison from one to another ; that he had been informed 
from yarious sources that he would probably be attacke 1 
in case the report of the Commissioners was unf ayorable ; 
that Fort Moidtrie was indefensible against an ordinarily 
skilful attack; that he had acted entirely upon his own re- 
sy)onsibility. 

"Tie declined a('C('(liii<>- to my (Icman*!. 
"Very res]iectfully, 

"T. JoHNSTOx Pettigrew.^' 

In tbe interval nntil the bombardment and surrender 
of Fort Suintei", Pettigrew was at Morris Island, perfect- 
ing his regiment in drill and discipline and training them 
to the rigorous hardships of military service. His com- 
mand, from the nature of its organization, did not take 
]">art in the bond)ardment of Fort Sumter. 

Early in ISfJl he received a stand of colors foi* his regi- 
ment, which he acknowledged in these tonching words: 

"The flag of the old Republic is ours no more. That 
noble standard which has so often waved over victorious 



204 grandfather's tales. 

lields ; which has so often carried hope to the atiiicted and 
struggling hearts of Europe; which has so often protected 
us in distant climes, afar from home and kindred, now 
threatens us with destruction. In all its former renown 
we participated. Southern valor bore it to its proudest 
triumphs, and oceans of Southern blood have watered the 
ground beneath it. Let us lower it with honor, and lay i t 
reverently upon the earth." 

With the fall of Smnter, all hope of reconciliation or 
peace was abandoned, if indeed all hope of peace had not 
flown before, and each section of the country confronted 
the other in the grim-visaged antagonism of war. The 
position of Adjutant-General of the State was tendered to 
Colonel Pettigrew by the Legislature of South ( 'arolina. 
This position, requiring great administrative ability and 
of eminent usefulness in organizing the State forces, the 
acceptance of which was urged upon him in consideration 
of greater usefulness than when restricted to the duties 
of a single regiment, Pettigrew declined. He sought the 
active duties of the field as more congenial to his tempera- 
ment, and at the request of General Beauregard he pro- 
ceeded to organize a rifle regiment for service during the 
war, of which he w^as to be Colonel. The regiment was 
soon made up, and companies exceeding the number re- 
quired had to be refused. Staff and field officers were 
agreed on and a junior officer dispatched to Montgomery, 
then the seat of the Confederate Government, to offer the 
regiment to the Secretary of War, and obtain authority 
to muster it into service. But the plan of the Confed- 
erate Secretary of War, at the time, was to receive com- 
panies, and not organize regiments, reserving to himself 
tlie organization into regiments, and the selection and ap- 
pointjnent of field officers. This arrangement of the Sec- 
retary of War met with mucli opposition from the com- 
panies that composed the regiment, and their efforts to 
retain the selection of officers to themselves being unsuc- 
cessful, they, many of them, sought admission to other 
regiments, which were being formed in the State, under 
authority of the Department of War. 



GEN. J. J. PETTIGREW. 205 

Colonel PettigTew was thus without command, but his 
ardent spirit was not long at rest. The State of jSTorth 
Carolina, his cherished mother, shortly afterward tendered 
him the command of the Twelfth ]^Jorth Carolina Regi- 
ment, which he accepted as Colonel, and proceeded at once 
to Kaleig'h to assume the command. 

During tlie winter of 1861-'62 he was in camp at 
Kvansport on the Potomac. He discharged all tlie duties 
pertaining to his situation with such eminent ability and 
skill, and with such satisfaction to his superior officers, 
that entirely without his knowledge, he was recommended 
for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. This 
appointment was tendered him by the President, but with 
rare modesty the appointment was declined by Colonel 
Pettigrew on the ground that he had not seen sufficient 
active service for so important a command; that he had 
)iever been under fire and had never commanded troops 
when in action. This rare case of modesty surprised the 
President, who remarked that it was the first case in 
which an officer had refused promotion to an office becaiise 
lie had not ]iroved his fitness for the place by an actual 
discharge of its duties. This reluctance to assume a 
liigher command was, however, overcome by Major Gen- 
<'ral Holmes, who, upon General French (Pettigrew's 
brigade commander) being ordered to report to Wilming- 
ton for duty, insisted that Colonel Pettigrew should recall 
his refusal of promotion and succeed General French in 
rommand of the brigade. This request of General Plolmes 
being urged Avitli earnestness, as a patriotic duty, over- 
ruled his judgment, and he wrote to the War Department 
revoking his refusal. He was then at Fredericksburg. 

Soon after, General Pettigrew was ordered to Yorktown 
and with Whiting's division, was engaged in the hotly- 
contested battle of the Seven Pines. In this battle he was 
wounded in the neck and shoulder and fell into the hands 
of the enemy. On the 31st of May, while the battle was 
raging, he was instructed to drive the enemy from a posi 
Tion in the woods where they were strongly posted. The 



2o6 grandfather's tales. 

attempt had been made before by a regiment of the divis- 
ion and had failed. The position held by the enemy was 
a strong one, and in making tlie attack the regiment was 
exposed to the lire of a battery of artillery on the tlank. 
Pettigrew, leading one of his regiments, was attempting 
to carry the position by assault when he was wounded. An 
attempt was made to remove him from the held, while ex- 
hausted from the loss of blood, by a captain of one of his 
companies, but inquiring how the day was going, and 
being told it was against us, and hearing some of the offi- 
cei's rallying their men, he insisted that the officer and 
men who were assisting him, should leave him on the field 
and join their company. For some time he was thought 
to be mortally wounded, and he was mourned by his kin- 
dred and his country as one who had passed from earthly 
scenes. But it was afterward ascertained that he had 
l^oen sent to Fort Delaware as a prisoner of war. 

Upon returning from Fort Delaware, still suffering 
from his wounds, he look command of his brigade, near 
Petersburg. The necessities of the service had transfer- 
red his old regiment to another coniiiiaml, but he soon per- 
fec'ted the discipline of tlie new organization, and his repu- 
tation for military skill and the rare attractiveness of his 
personal character filled his ranks wirh North Carolina's 
most sterling sons. 

With liis brigade tilled and (Hsci])line(l anew, lie joined 
llie iirniy of the Potomac, under Lee, and entered upon 
the Pennsylvania campaign. When the Confederate 
Army entered Pennsylvania, the orders of General Lee 
were uKtst positive in regard to the conduct of the troops. 
Whatever niiulit be tlu^ir sense of wrong, he ordered that 
no acts of retaliation should be allowed. This order, so 
consonant with his own sentiments, was carried out by 
(Jeneral Pettigrew with tlie most can ful and rigid enforce- 
ment of disci])line, nor did lie alone maintain the most per- 
fect discijdine in his own inunediate command, but he was 
also prominent in bringing to the notice of his division com- 
numder any lapse in the discipline enjoined by General 



GEN. J. J. PETTIGREW. 207 

Lee, and which Pettigrew regarded as essential tx3 the pres- 
ervation of the army. 

Gettysburg and its sanguinary slaughter came. In tlie 
first day's fight Pettigrew and his brave command were 
in the thickest of the fight and bore their proud banners 
j)ressing the retreating foe. His more than decimated 
troops bore witness, with the testimony of blood, to their 
gallantry and daring. Pettigrew's personal bravery and 
coolness were everywhere conspicuous. "Look, boys," said 
a young lieutenant, while shot and shell were singing the 
carnival of death. "Look, boys ; did you ever see a nobler 
num. Hurrah for General Pettigrew^ !" "I never real- 
ized before," said Capt. Jo. Davis, of Franklin, "I never 
realized before, how much one man was worth. Llis pres- 
ence and cheering command nerves the arms of thousands." 

On the second day, Pettigrew was held in reserve, but 
victory still followed the Confederate banners. 

On the third day, Pettigrew was placed in charge of 
Hetirs division, and in that fatal and gallant charge on 
Oemeterv Hill, he was in a line on the left of Picket's 
commaufl. His was not a supporting column. Both were 
r(^pulsed l)y su])erior numbers, occupying a strong and im- 
]n'egnable ])osition. Pettigrew was T3ainfully wounded, 
and Burgwyn, Marshall, McOrea and Iredell — all North 
Oaroliun's dead jewels — wrote with their blood the dying 
declaration, that i^orth Carolina had followed the Con- 
federate l)aiiners to the farthest point that Lee had planted 
tliem. Oil the iirst day of -luly Pettigrew's brigade went 
into rlie iiiiht witli 3,000 as i^'allant men as ever answered 
tlic l)iiglo-('ail to liattle. On the morniui;: of the 4th it 
uimil)crc(1 bill S8.'5. 

Lbc Confederate aTin\' fell liack upon Hagerstown and 
the Potomac, crossing tlie river at Williamsport and Fall- 
ing: Waters. After a nighl's marcli, the troops were rest- 
iuu- oil the morning of the 14th of Luly, near the bridge, at 
Falliii.o' Waters. General PettiaTcw, with other officers, 
was walking to the left of the division, when their atten- 
tion was attracted bv a small bodv of cavalrv issuino- from 



2o8 grandfather's tales. 

the woods near by. The small number caused them to be 
mistaken for Confederates. There was an irregular skir- 
mish, a scattering- fire, and General Pettigrew was mor- 
tally wounded. He was removed with the army, was 
taken to the house of Mr. Boyd, near Winchester, Va,, 
where, on the 17th of July, his noble spirit, with all of its 
rich endowments and splendid culture passed peacefully 
away to its bounteous Creator. 



THOMAS S. ASHE. 

See what grace was seated on his brow. 

— Hamlet. 

Thomas S. Ashe graduated at the University of North 
(^arolina in the class of 1832, several members of which 
afterward became men of rank in the country. Thomas 
L. Clingman was the best scholar in the class, and gradu- 
ated with its highest honor, distinguished for his genius, 
his ability, his awkwardness, and his endurance as a 
bandy-player. He spoke the "Latin Salutatory" speech 
at graduation, which, at that period, was the speech of 
highest honor. J. H. Parker, of Tarboro, spoke the "Vale- 
dictory," second in honor, and Thomas S. Ashe the third 
s]")eech. The other members of tJie class who became dis- 
tinguished were Jas. C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy 
uudcr President Pierce, and R. H. Smith, of Halifax, 
always prominent as an able and public-spirited citizen in 
Xortli Carolina. Thomas W. Harris was the handsomest 
member of the class, and Tom Ashe the best looking and 
most commanding. -lauies C. Dobbin was the most popu- 
lar man in the class. Tom Ashe commanded the most re- 
spect, Clingman was the most wondered at, and Dick Smith 
wns tbe most beloved. 

Tliroughout tlieir respeeti^■(' careers in life tlie charac- 
teristics these men developcMl at college seemed to adhere 
to them. 

Clingman in ])ublic life was a very strong man. He wa» 



RECOLLECTIONS OF JUDGE ASHE. 209 

chairnuin of the Coiumittee on Foreign Relations in the 
House of Representatives, and gi-eatly prided himself oii 
some of his speeches on foreign affairs and on his insight 
into world-wide politics. But he still found time to study 
philosophy and science, and he measured mountains, and 
explained in minute detail the track through the heavens 
of a great meteor, whose course he traced from Alabama 
over into Kentucky, calculating to a nicety how high it 
was above the surface of the earth. And lie was likewise 
a great authority on water-spouts. 

When the war came on, he was animated by a great am- 
bition to attain military renown. In battle he was cool, 
collected and philosophical ; and in personal bravery no 
soldier excelled hiui. 1\) crdwn his work, he, after ])eace, 
collected his principal writings and speeches and pub- 
lished a book of them — setting a pace for other Carolinians 
who have been too remiss in matters of authorship. 

Tom Ashe, in many respects, was just the opposite of 
Clingnuiu. Clingman was a pushing politician; Asho 
was of a modest, retiring nature; but withal as manly a 
man as was ever born on our soil. He was hardly known 
outside of his judicial district as a lawyer, but when put 
on the Supreme Court Bench, his opinions were recog- 
nized by the profession as models of rare excellence. 

Without solicitation, he was elected Confederate States 
Senator ; and, indeed, whatever public honors came to him, 
they came because of the respc^et his course in life inspired. 

We recall a little incident in regard to him: 

In 1868, by military order, the negroes were to vote 
upon the question of adopting the proposed Constitution. 
The Conservatives, who Avere opposed to all tlies(>, pi-oe.eod- 
ings, met in Convention at Raleigh. Governoi- Graham ad- 
dressed them in a speech of great power, urging that the 
white people should make a party to themselves. At tho 
same election, a governor and other officers provided for 
in that Constitution were to be voted for. If the Consti- 
tution were rejected by the people, the officers elected would 
not be installed. 



2IO grandfather's tales. 

N'anct' was noniiiuitcd hv tlic Consorvativcs, and Holdcn 
1)_Y the Radicals. It looked like it was to be the same old 
contest of 1864 over again. l)Ut Vance, after thinking 
over it, declined. The executive committee then tendered 
the nomination to Judge Merrimon ; he, too, declined. 
Other names were brought forward — but all the politicians 
declined. The executive committee was thus confrontel 
liy a serious situation. Finallv, Colonel Bob Cowan said 
that he could name a man who would not decline to lead 
.\(H'tli Carolinians in any struggle for their rights and 
happiness — no matter if it was a forlorn hope. ''Name 
ibc man/' th(^ others said. "It is Tom .Vshe. He will 
not decline to l)e the leader of our jveoplc. I pledge niy- 
self to that." And so Colonel Cowan was commissioned 
to see Tom Ashe about it. And Bob Cowan was justified. 
Ashe came out and made a memoi-able canvass, with no 
expectation of any personal :id\:iiilagc ; for if the Conserv- 
atives defeated the Constitution, the election of the officers 
was a luillitv; and if the Radicals succeeded in carrying 
the Constitution, thev would also certainlv elect his op- 
))onent, Ilolden, Governor. 

Well, that was a cam])aigu in which el)ony shins and 
"forty acres and a mule" ])hi\"<'i| ;i leading part. If th»^ 
venerated George Wasliington liad been our candidate, the 
sable cohorts would have (IowikmI liim. 'j'hc darkey's 
wouldn't have known the Constitution from an ele})liaiit 
had they met a travelling circus in the roa<l, and they were 
intlamed to the sizzling point against the whites. Truly, 
those were days of humiliation and mortification to tlie 
flesh. But we had the spirit to endure — and lofty souls 
like Tom Ashe led us along until after awhile we came out 
of the Avilderness into tlie ])roniised Jnud. 



UNIVERSITY REMINISCENCES. 2 11 

UNIVERSITY REMINISCENCES. 
"Tlie old, old tale of long ago '" 

The Uiiivcrsitv of Xortli Carolina nearly seventy years 
ago was in many respects unlike the University of to- 
day. Prol)ably the discipline was more rigid, and the 
great law of obedience was more strictly enforced. The 
students were then boys, and boys need watt'hing. JN^ow, 
we suspect, they are "young gentlemen," and their owti 
sweet will is more recognized. Then some of the boys 
wore homespun and home-made square-tail coats, and well- 
fitting tailor-made store clothes were not conuiion. The 
bon-ton wore Litchford's best, made to order by the 
fashionable tailor of the little town of Raleigh, and re- 
served for Commencement occasions. The scpia re-tail- 
coat boys, who brought their goose quills for pens and their 
<lip-candles from home, were the best students. And 
when a boy had the self-sacrifice and manhood to defy the 
proud boy's contumely and save an honest penny by tak- 
ing his frugal meal of molasses and corn-bread cold from 
a tin plate in his room, that boy cast before him the shad- 
ow of a coming man. Poor, dear old Murray ! next-door 
iieigh])or to us, Old South Building, west etu] (;omer. 
Looking down through the long and darkening vista of the 
corridors of time we can see him now. Working, A\ork- 
ing, studying, delving, earnest, never tiring day and night, 
early and late, living hard and working hard. Always 
the same dear old Murray, with his dip-candle at night and 
liis tin plate at meal times. He struggled on with it all, 
poor and uncomplaining. But when bewildered in a 
mathematical labyrinth, old Murray was a staff to lean 
"\i and find rest. Wliat was his lot in tlic cliaucc^ 
and changes of life we have never known. But there was 
a Tiian in him then. i\nd it is a comfort to us now, and 
pi'oof that we were not wholly bad, that we sometimes 
brought him from ''Miss jSTancy's" on the hill the first 
and s(H'ond joint of a chicken leg, to cheer his scanty fare. 
Dear old Murrav ! 



212 grandfather's TALES. 

Do onr boys remember Dave Barimi and George Hor- 
ton ? How unlike in appearance, in tastes, in pvirsnits ; 
how diverse in distinction; and yet how sharp and bitter 
and jealous was their rivalry. Both lineal descendants 
of Ham. One of the guinea, the other of the bacon type. 
One a sturdy, short, stout, strong-handed and stout-hearted 
faithful college servant, a great favorite with the boys, 
always ready to serve them, of few words, but his words 
were sense, tending day by day tlie young sprouts of liter- 
ature, but without one spark of literature witliin him. 
This was Dave. The other, George Horton, was a forest- 
born poet, who learned his letters while turning his plow 
at the end of the furrow, and framed his verses while 
driving his team. 

On Saturday evening he came up to college from the 
country with his week's poetical work in manuscript which 
was ordered by tbe boys on the Saturday before. When 
he came he was a lion and attracted all the light from 
Dave. His average budget of lyrics was about a dozen 
in number. They w'ere mostly in the love line, and ad- 
dressed to the girl at home. We usually invested a quarter 
a week, and generally to the tune of the girl we left behind 
us. But once we taxed George's genius with a grave text. 
We gave him for his muse, ''Gar nux erkctai" (we believe 
it's Greek), and explained to him, with learned emphasis, 
that it meant in Englisli — "'For the night cometh in 
which no man can work." He was equal to the task, and 
brought us a learned poem on "industry," in which oc- 
curred the oft-repeated couplet : 

" For the yoke of industry is wealth. 
And the yoke of industry is health." 



DEATH OF DR. MITCHELL. 213 



DEATH OF DR. MITCHELL. 

Such graves as his are pilgrims' shrines. 
Shrines to no code nor creed confined — 
The Delphian vales, the Palestines, 
The Mecca of the mind. 

— On Burna. 

There is perbans no tragedy in the private walks of 
life in N^orth Carolina that equals the death of Dr. Elisha 
Mitchell, the Professor of Geology in the University of 
North Carolina, for its iikmivuIuI and dranialic incidents. 

He was a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, a graduate 
of Yale College, a class-mate of George E. Badger, and 
was ajjpointed to a Professorship in the University of 
North Carolina upon the reconnnendation of Professor 
Olmstead, of Yale. He came to iSTorth Carolina in the 
early part of the last century, and passed his life at the 
University of the State until his sad departure. 

He was a great favorite at the University, he won 
the affection of the students by his learning, his varied 
attainments, his quaint and quiet humor, and his amiable 
eccentricities. He was a unique representative of the 
University faculty, and was a connecting link between 
austerity and freedom in college intercourse. 

A great lover of- nature, he would sometimes head a 
select party of students and in freedom and abandon 
would court nature in her sylvan solitudes. They were 
occasions of enjoyment, and while ostensibly a scientific, 
geological and botanical exploration, it was in fact a social 
festival in which preceptor and pupil unbent, and, waiving 
the formalities of dignity, had a good time. 

With all his ease and geniality, there was an air of 
pensive thoughtfulness about him that seemed akin to 
melancholy or a silent communing with the inner depths 
of his soul, as if some dark cloud lowered over the horizon 
of his life as a portent of evil to come. His walk at 
times was slow, meditative and abstracted, and he seemed 
to be absorbed in his own companionship ; and then he 



214 grandfather's tales. 

wduM recover his eoiisciovisness and ^ve vent U) some 
(|Uiiint ex|)ressioii that would wreath his face in smiles. 

We. onee lieard him sav to Judi>e Dnnean Cameron, 
wliilo Thomas L. Clinoman was delivering his senior 
speech on the rostrum in Gerrard Hall : "Judge, that boy 
ha^ got a mind as big as my arm," at the same time stretch- 
ing out liis muscular arm to its full length. 

We once heard Dr. Mitchell and Rev. W. M. Green 
(afterwards Bishop Green) discussing the subject of the 
rmmortality of the Soul. The good ]]ishoi),with instinctive 
kindness, was contending for the universality of the im- 
mortality of all animals ; and he illustrated his position 
by the life of the weary stage-coach wheel-horse. "He," 
said the good Bishop, "is one of God's creatures ; chained 
to a wheel with a burden behind it, and lashed through 
life by a merciless driver. It has always seemed to me 
that such a fate should have its compensations in green 
fields and shady pastures, to find happiness in an im- 
mortal life." "That is all well," said the erudite doctor 
of laws and letters, "but when you conu> to an oyster it 
don't apply." 

In 1857, after the Commencement of the University in 
June, Dr. Mitchell felt the old imi)ulse of his geological 
tastes, and determined to gratify a long-cherisheii wish 
to explore the mountain peaks of Western North Ciirolina, 
and taking w'ith him the implements of his favorite science, 
he set out, unattended by his staff of explorers, to commune 
with science in that Wonderland of iSTature- — the '^'Lnnd of 
the Skies" — the invalid's hope and the pilgrim's shrine. 

He went. It was his last journey to the undiscovered 
country ; went alone into the vast solitudes of the Black 
^fountains of Western Carolina. He had for some days 
ex])lor(Ml the lower niouutains of the rano'c, staying at 
night with .some of his ])lain friends in their humble cab- 
ins among the mountains. 

On the 57th of June he ascended its peaks. It was a 
perilou.s and an arduous journey, but he was in robust 
health, on tlie high ])lateau of middle life, ardent, enthu- 



DEATH OF DR. MITCHELL- 217 

siastic, and hopeful of discovering in North Cai-oliaij the 
liio-hest nKwntain peak east of the Rockies. He did not 
return to his friends at night, but it excited no ahirui,, be- 
cause he was brave and adventurous in his scientilic pur- 
suits, and it was naturally supposed that he was hired on 
in his researches in the laboratory of nature. 

Time wore on and he did not return. There was sas- 
picion, then fear, tlien, with some, came assurance tiiat 
something of evil had befallen the great and good scientist. 
Alarm came on, and searching parties were fori.iou to 
solve the mystery. Their search was vam. No tiamgs 
of the missing came. 

At length an old mountain bear hunter, long familiarly 
known as'' ''Big Tom Wilson," who was trapping by lught 
in the o'orges of the Black Mountains, discovered what he 
supposed to be a human body. He staid by it imlii the 
morning sun lighted up the mountain hollows, and there, 
to his horror, he saw the lifeless body of the good man he 
had known in life, lying half hidden in a pool of wa:cr. 

He looked around to see how harm had come to ttie 
body All alono' the mountain steeps he saw broken limb.'? 
and other evidences of a struggle to arrest disaster, io 
his practiced eye the sad story of the tragedy was written 
in obiect-lessons along the mountain sides. He had lost 
his footliold and had taken the fatal i)lunge to death, into 
the o-oro-e below. A sad plunge into the unknowR ; but 
could any death be more fitting to the great Carolinian 

whom it befell ? , , . , . 

Loving friends bore his body to the highest mountain 
peak of the Black Mountains, 6,717 feet above tidewater, 
the highest mountain peak east of the Rockies, whvb now 
bears the honored name of Mt. Mitchell. 



2i8 grandfather's tales. 



AMONG THE CAROLINA WRITERS. 

Suit the action to the word. 
The word to the action. 

— Hamlet. 

North (^viioi.ix.v lias not been prolifie in writers of 
her majestic historv. Hut slie has s(nne bright stars 
tliat shine in the Hnnanient and gixc lustre to the 
name of their mitivity, that \V(; wonhi not willingly let 
(lie. lie who stands at the gateway of our history was 
consecrated bv the com])anionship of Shakespeare, Bacon 
and Hen Johnson, and left his mark u[)on the lettered glory 
of the Elizabethan period of English history. Durinj; 
the twelve 3'ears of his dreary imprisonment under t^ie 
charge of treason, after the death of his patron Queen, 
his ])en was his comfort and his companion, and while there 
he wrote a "History of the Woidd," on whose stage he had 
been so potent an actoi'. Tlial name was Sir Walter 
Kaleigh — statesnnm, historian, poet, warrior. As a writer, 
he was followed by Ilackluyt, the distinguished scientist 
who was sent over by Raleigh with Amadas and Barlowc 
to write an account of tlu^ir discoveries in the land of the 
setting sun. Ilackluyt's style is of the antiipie. His work 
is now a rare gem of early American literature, and was 
written of and on Roanoke Island. These are the early 
pioneers of literature associated wiih ibc name an<l early 
history of North Carolina. 

Next to these, though not in clos(^ proximity, come 
(Hir historians — Lawson, Williamson, ^lartin, Wheelei-, 
Hawks. Of these, Wheeler is the most useful ; inaccurate 
in some instances, but full of filial loyalty to the State. 
Williamson was a "canny Scot," and his history was r. 
financial venture written for a Philadelphia ])ul)lish3r 
u]ion a contract at a price per ])age, and its pages are a 
dark thread running through a wide blank margin. 

Martin was well equipped as a historian, but left thi 
State for a judicial position in Louisiana, and his histor- 



AMONG THE CAROLINA WRITERS. 219 

ical materials, which were ample, were lost or destroyed at 
sea in their transit to i^ew Orleans. 

Dr. F. L. Hawks followed Martin as the historian of 
his native State. Great things were expected of him. He 
Avas a natural g'enius, of litei'ary tastes and instincts, of 
elegant accomplishments, of profound learning, bnt he 
had not the historic nose. 

Following Hawks, came Jo. Sewell Jones, an erratic 
genins, gifted in a certain way, enthusiastic, sensational. 
His work should have been entitled the Romance of l^orth 
Carolina JHstory. 

Before Jones there were fragmentary works that added 
much to our historical collection — -Caruthers, Foote, Gen- 
eral Graliam's sketches of Revolutionary history, and other 
literary labors with which we are not sufficiently familiar 
to speak definitely of their merits and demerits. 

The elder James Iredell, the Associate Justice of the 
Supreme (^>urt of the United States, was the recognized 
best writer of our Revolutionary times. He did not write 
a continuous history of the State, but as a letter-writer, in 
which he chronicled contemporary events, he was incom- 
])arable. Griffith McRee, of Wilmington, rendered the 
State a great service when, at the suggestion of James C. 
Johnston, of Hays, near Edenton, he prepared a Life of 
Judge Iredell, and left the State his debtor in gratitude. 

James Iredell, Jr., inherited the literary tastes of his 
distiuguished father, and if his life had been given to 
literary pursuits instead of the law, its jealous rival, he 
would have reached an e(]ually high, if not higher, dis- 
tinction on the round of ambition's ladder. His Address 
at the University of J^orth Carolina at the Commence- 
ment of 1834 was a masterpiece of literary excellence, but 
it was too short for so grave an occasion. 

I^loatiug down the tide of our history to a later jXM'iod 
we come to Dr. William Hooper, of the TTniversity, con- 
fessedly th(^ finest writer of his period. A web of sorrow 
was woven in his mental constitution, but wit and humor 
l)id)l)hM] up through its interstices whenever lie touched 



220 GRANDFATHER S TALES. 

pen to paper. His Address at the University in 1834, 
upon tlie defects of primary education in North Carolina, 
was inimitable in humor, and convulsed a large and cul- 
tured audience as we liavo never seen before or since. His 
address at a later period, "Fifty Years Ago/' was l)ut a 
step behind it in moving men to merriment. 

The press has played its part in our prose literature. 
The blood of the Hales of Fayetteville runs in editorial 
channels. The elder Edward J. Hale, the veteran editor 
of the Fayetteville Observer, was for forty years identified 
with the press of J^orthCarolina,and long exercised through 
the Fayetteville Observer an influence for good that is yet 
felt in the State. When the war of the States was in 
progress, he continued the publication of the Observer until 
Shennan and his bummers came to Fayetteville and deso- 
lated the town. After the war, j\Ir. Hale removed to New 
York and established himself, with his son, as a publisiier 
of books. The change of scene produced no change of 
heart with him, and while he lived in New York, the old 
love of his nativity seemed to glow with a wanner and 
more intense flame. He was greatly beloved in his old 
liome, and travellers from North Carolina generally j"o- 
garded Edward J. Hale as an interesting object of their 
Southern t(mr. After a brief illness, he passed away, leav- 
ing the odor of a sweet and saintly memory which, we trust, 
will be long cherished among us in North Carolina. 

Weston R. Gales, of the old Ralcigk Register, was a 
greatly gifted man, and handled a gifted ])en. He wis a 
charming social companion, an unsurpassed post-praiidl-il 
orator, and but for convivial excess would have been a 
model man. The line of heredity shows plainly, too, in 
the Gales blood. Father, son, brotlior and grandson, all 
handled pens mightier than the sword. 

Col. W. L. Saunders was prol)ably the best writer the 
State has ever produced. In force, clearness, directness, 
in power of illustration and in unflinching tenacity he 
was without a parallel. If there was any defect, it was 
in the humor that gives sparkle to composition. 



AMONG THP: CAROLINA WRITERS. 221 

Gaston, as a penman, was as .pure and pellucid as Addi- 
son. Badger's force was marred by his infinite drollery. 
His sense of ridicule vvas so dominant, even on the gravest 
subjects, that it impaired his sincerity. 

Gen. J. J. Pettigrew was distinguished as a writer as 
well as a military commander. Had he lived out his nat- 
ural life, no Carolinian would have lived, greater than he. 
The two Camerons, John W. and John D., were both gifted 
penmen. George Davis, our gifted school-boy friend, was 
a gifted uian, and the law, though it gave us a good lawyer, 
deprived us of a prince of letters. 

Engelhard, Price and Fulton, Holden, the Camerons, 
the old Asheville Citizen and Joe Turner's Raleigh iSen- 
'inel shine in the array of able writers. 

Others we would gladly mention. Thej^ multiply as 
time rolls on, but they are on this side the line of historic 
chronicles, and w^e deal witli the books that are made up, 
balanced and closed. 



22 2 grandfather's TALES. 



THE BOMBARDMENT. 

Stand not upon the order of your going. 

— Macbeth. 

Pekhai's iIk' most memorable day in the annals of Eliztv- 
beth City was t\\o day of the bombardment, early in Feb- 
rnary, 18G2, after the fall of Roanoke Island. After the 
tight and Confederate defeat at llatteras, tlie year before, 
the sound and river towns of the Albemarle section were 
in a condition of i)er]jetual trepidation in fear of the inva- 
sion of the Fe(U'ral troops who bad taken possession of 
ilatt(M-as, and the ap])rehension of injury was conjurc'd 
into a thousand fancies of outrage and destruction of life 
and ])roperty. 13ut Burnside, who was in command ar 
llatteras, was in no hurry to ]iush his advantage, and 
the next step for him was to capture Roanoke Island, 
which was occupied by various troo])s, under the connnand 
of Col. TIenry M. Sbaw. 

Roanoke Island was attacked and captured early in 
l'\'bruary. and tbe peo])le of Elizabeth City were first to 
hear the sad news. There seemed to be a sort of mental 
telegraphy between Roanoke^ Ishind and that town, an 1 
the news of Roanoke and its fall was soon followed by 
tlie news that the Fedei'al gunboats were preparing for a 
hostile visit to the water towns in N^orth Carolina. Wt, 
:is nearest to the stragc^tic point, were in a state of tremu- 
lous buzziness. On the streets tlu> en(]uirv every day from 
man to man was, "Are tliey coming ( When are they com- 
ing^ Will they shell the town? Shall we fight, or what 
shall wo do f ' S<imc said tight. Col. S. I). Starke, 
highest in connnand, ordered out the militia and threw up 
breastworks at Col)b's Point for tlie defence^ of our harboi". 
Many thought it b(\st to set fire to our houses and retreat 
by the light, as the Russians had successfully don? at 
.Moscow when invad(Ml by Xa])oleon. (^olonel Starke ayv 
proved it. Others did it when the time came. 

We were livin<> on Pascpiotank River in the country, 



THE BOMBARDMENT. 223 

nine miles from town, but were in town every day to 
keep up with current events. Returning from town one 
day, we heard when in town that the Yankees were gettiiig 
their gunboats ready to come to town. The rumor had 
greatly excited the town, and the people Avere much dis- 
turbed what to do when they came. We got home late, 
communicated the startling news to our disturbed house- 
hold, and retired. About midnight a messenger I'roai 
Elizalieth City roused us from sleep and delivered a mes- 
sage from Rev. E. M. Forbes, Rector of Christ Charch, 
saying that a statement had reached town that the Yankee 
gunV)oats were preparing to leave Roanoke Island for Eliz- 
nl)eth C^ity, and requesting that we would send up wagons 
to remove his books and valuables to our home in the coun- 
try for safety. We hurried Isaac off immediately wiili a 
farm wagon, a three-mule-cart with driver, and little 
Peter wixh a single box wagon. We rose early next morn- 
ing, in fact we didn't go to sleep any more that uigh^. 
While at breakfast, a servant ran into the room from up- 
stairs, saying with great alarm that the river was full of 
stc^aniboats going up towards town, like a wedge, that there 
was more'n forty of 'em. We ran upstairs, looked out of 
;ni u])])er window, and there they were, moving like a 
pliaJanx, to disturb our peace and happiness. When we 
went down, Isaac had returned with the debris of Mr. 
Forbes' goods, wares and chattels. Great drops of bead 
sweat were rolling down his ebony cheeks, and his emo- 
tions overcame his utterance. To our enquiry wiiere Mr. 
Forbes was, he said, ''Mr. Forbes was ilusterated." "I an' 
he was a talkin', you know. Master Richard, when he was 
a pilin in his books and pictures and sich, a big 'bung' 
tiew over our heads, un he said to me, said he, 'Isaac,' 
and I returned 'Yeth, thir,' ; and again he said to nn, said 
he, 'Isaac, you better get away quick as you can.' I said 
again, 'Yeth, thir, Mr. Forbes, sir, I will, for it looks like 
judgment,' and then I jumped on my seat and 'Ohl Buck' 
(Old Bu(^k was gamy and the off-horse) let out like Satan 
was atter him. Wlieu I came to the Cobb's Point road de 



224 grandfather's tales 

hiingis was a ilyiu" all round, and Buck and Bill, who allers 
minded nie when 1 sot behin' 'em, didn't ker no :.n )re for 
nie den a born-bline torn kitten." ''Where's Mr. Forbes?" 
"Dunno. When 1 seed him he was lookin' like he was 
gwine to run." ''What did he say?" "Well, Master 
Richard, he was sayin' some words he hadn't ought to sed. 
'J'earcd to mo like euss words." 

''Well, Isaac, where's Mr. Forbes' things?" "'Lord o' 
massy. Master liichard, 1 tell you how dat is. Uey's 
scattered all along the road from here to 'Lizabeth.'" 

Finishing our hasty breakfast, we mounted our horse 
and set out for town, and our eyes opened on a sigiit we 
hope never to see again. x\ll the people of tlie lovvu were 
on the road, most of them were afooot, shoe-tops deep In 
mud and slush, muddy, bedraggled, unhappy, wr-jlched. 
They were looking for an asyluui of safety among country 
friends. We met scores of our town friends, for- 
lorn and miserable. We asked for others, and they 
told us the town was on fire and was deserted, and that 
a juival engagement was raging in the harbor ; thai, two 
Confederates were killed and three Yankees. Wc soon 
met General Ileningsen ou the road. Hying before an nn- 
seen en(>my, from tlie fort at Cobb's Point, and "'minding 
not the order of his going." We met some ladies afoot, 
unhappy, looking for an asylum. We met the Picmonts 
in "Little Billy's" three-mnle cart, looking for oni' hcnse. 
They told us of the distress. That it was a deal town. 
That it was dead as a graveyard, that all had left, some 
never to return. We asked after our friends. rhoy t^aid 
that some had set fire to their houses and nuide tracks for 
(^irrituck, that others had done the same, and that the 
whole town was then on fire, to spite the Yankees; that 
the Elliots had started on foot for Oxford, tliat the Mar- 
tins were in a buggy, flying for Oxford, that Rev. E. M. 
Forbes was staying in town to meet the Yankeea when 
they landed on the wharf, surrender them the town and 
ask protection; that Mr. Forbes, when thej' left, AAas put- 



GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. 225 

ting Oil his ecclesiastical vestments, in order tlar they 
might respect his sacred office. 

It was a grand, gloomy and peculiar time, sucn as tliis 
town had never seen before, has never seen since, and we 
trust may never see again. 



GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. 

And like the down that rides upon the breeze. 
His form was grace and every action ease. 

— Anon. 

If we were called on to designate the most disciiigiiished 
and influential Governor of jSTorth Carolina in its long 
roll of Chief Magistrates in all its history up to the "war 
between the States," we should answer without hesitation, 
William A. Graham. His life had not fallen ra thi; try- 
ing times that confronted Governor Vance, but, had it 
been his lot, he would have met them with the samo heroic 
and unflinching spirit that distinguished our grea>: War 
Governor. But, unlike him, he would not have found grains 
of merriment in every pound of sorrow, for Governor Gra- 
ham was wrapped by nature in an environment of dignity 
that shrouded mirth and rebelled familiarity. There has 
been no man, perhaps, in JSTorth Carolina that '.las been 
endowed with such graces of manner and address that 
marked him as a great master among men. lie wa-^ grave 
and dignified without austerity, easy without familiarity, 
and ho always had a courtliness of personal bearing that 
commanded every one's respect and offended no one's self 
love. 

Mr. Graham's life forms a conspicuous feature in the 
drama of North Carolina's history while he lived. With 
its political history he was identified from the early outset 
of his life. 

He entered life with the prestige of ancestral di-:tinc- 

15 



2 26 grandfather's tales. 

tion, descended from that Scotch-Irish race whicli has 
illustrated our annals, he added new honors to its illus- 
trious lineage. 

Soon after his entrance upon the legal profession ho was 
elected to the Legislature from the county of Orange, lie 
made his mark in that body soon after he became a mem- 
ber, and retained a prominent position in the councils of 
the State ever afterwards, and added National honors to 
his subsequent career. 

In the Harrison Presidential storm of 1840, Mr. Gra- 
liam bore a conspicuous part in the Whig phalanx of can- 
vassers, and the subsequent Legislature had to elect two 
United States Senators for iS^orth Carolina, in the place of 
Senator Strange, who had resigned, and Senator Mangum, 
whose term had expired. Mr. Graham was elected co till 
the unexpired term of Senator Strange, and Senator Man- 
gum to succeed himself. It was a high compliment to 
Hr. Graham, considering his age and his residence in the 
same county Avith Senator Mangnim. In this exalted po- 
sition Senator Graham soon gave evidence that the St-it9 
had acted wisely in selecting him as Senator to suprdv 
the place of Senator Strange. He took part in the leading^ 
subjects of debate, was always heard with attention and 
interest, and his speeches were commended by the ablest 
statesmen throughout tlie country. 

In IS-li he was nominated as the Whig candidate for 
Governor of j^orth Carolina, which nomination he wai? 
reluctant to accept, but he was urged to accept it by his 
])olitical friends of the Whig Party, and finally accepiod 
it. His opponent of the Democratic Party, Mike Tlokj, 
of Lincoln County, was a foeman every way worthy of his 
steel. Young, accomplished, well educated, rminently 
magnetic, the Democrats of that day confidently calculxted 
on his success. Of a warmer temperament than Graham, 
more gifted as an orator, not less gifted in personal attrac- 
tiveness, they were AVell matched in the canvass. But 
before the canvass was ended Hoke was beckoned away br 
the pale messenger, and Graliam was elected by a large 



GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. 2 27 

majority. He served as Governor for two terms with sig- 
nal usefulness and satisfaction to the people of the State. 
He left the office of Governor with a ISTational reputation 
that gave him the appointment of Secretary of the Navy 
in President Fillmore's Cabinet, the duties of which office 
were discharged with an administrative ability that 
crowned the administration of the Department with great 
eclat. He established intercourse with Japan which 
o])ened its ports to tlie world, and placed that gem oi t]ie 
Orient into the family of nations. Under the auspices 
of the ISTavy Department the region of the Amazon River, 
in South America, was successfully explored, and a new 
market was opened to our commerce. 

Subsequently, he was nominated for the Vice-rresi- 
<lency with General Scott, and it was confidently expecced 
that, with General Scott's military reputation and Gov- 
ernor Graham's reputation as a statesman, the election 
would be a Whig triumph ; but it fought its last battle, 
and was folded up among the treasures of our history. 

Governor Graham's great strain was the part he lir.st 
hoYG in our fratricidal war. His constitution was calm, 
conservative and deliberate, and he was naturally a Union 
man in the early stages of our sanguinary civil, war. He 
was less impulsive than the people whom he had served 
so long and faithfully, and as long as he could he clung 
to the Union with wliich lie was identified ; but when the 
tocsin of war was sounded and an invasion of his native 
State was threatened, he returned to his normal position, 
joined the councils of the Confederacy, and sent liis five 
sons to defend his home. 



228 grandfather's tales. 



THE MOUNTAIN GRANDEUR OF WESTERN 
CAROLINA. 

Ill to the mountains. I will not think the thoughts 
Nor breathe the breath of other men. 

— Festns. 

The most beautiful scenery in America, if not in the 
world, is to be found in Western Carolina. There by the 
workings of nature's laws, mountains have been piled 
on mountains, and between the ranges are lovely valleys 
watered by picturesque streams. In the Alps the craggy 
mountain tops are bare, but in blest Carolina, the verdure 
extends to the very pinnacle of the loftiest ranges. It 
is a region that fosters individuality, and trains the inhab- 
itants to boldness and enterprise. Children are born among 
the wonders of nature, and by their daily experiev.cc- 
they are taught self-reliance and attain rare powers of 
physical endurance. In the seclusion of their mountain 
homes, they develop the attributes of a sterling manhood, 
and among them are found many families richly endov^ed 
with intellectual gifts and bearing the stamp of marked 
superiority. 

As two of a type we recall Samuel P. Carson and 
Zebulon B. Vance, names that are closely associated be- 
cause of a most unhappy affair. 

Dr. Robert Vance, the uncle of 'niiii wliom our people so 
much loved as tJieir great War Governor, was a man of 
fine characteristics. Like his distinguished nephew, he 
had boldness, and strength of character, determination 
and zeal. He was a student of public affairs and was well 
informed in all branches of knowledge. He represented 
the Buncombe District in Congress thrcc-(piarters of a cen- 
tury ago. An aspirant for his seat was young Sam. Car- 
son, who had served a session or two in the Legislaoire, 
and was unusually gifted as an eloquent orator. During 
the canvass. Dr. Vance charged that Carson's father 
had been disloyal durinsi- the Revolution. Carson 



MOUNTAIN GRANDEUR. 229 

denied the charge, but Vance would not retract. And so 
Oarson proposed to have it out with him after the election. 
The celebrated Davy Crockett was a friend of Carson and 
undertook to train him in the use of the pistol ; and Davy- 
was reputed to be as sure a shot as any man in America. 
Wlien the election was over Carson challenged Dr. Vanc3 
and they fought a duel at Saluda Gap on the South Caro- 
lina line, Davy Crockett being present. Vance fell mor- 
tally wounded. Carson had been chosen at the election 
and he continued in Congress some ten years. At Wdoh- 
ington he was regarded as one of the readiest debaters in 
(Congress, and he stood high up in the esteem and conJi- 
<lence of Andrew Jackson, who was then President. And 
at home the people delighted in honoring him, for his 
splendid powers of oratory made him the idol of the moun- 
Taiueers. His last public service was in the Conveniion 
of 1835. He then moved to Texas, and a few years later 
died, after a long period of ill-health. 

Among all the great men the West has given to Carolina, 
]ierhaps none were superior to Carson except Zeb. Vance, 
The nephew of the man he slew in mortal combat. Zeb. 
Vance is too well known for us to dwell at length on his 
great capacity and surpassing excellence as an orator. Wo 
will only say tliat when he was in the zenith of his powers, 
he swayed men with a force that has never been excelled 
among our peple. Truly the West has been as proiiiic 
of great men as she is notable for the number of her moosn- 
rain peaks ; and the mothers who could rear such men and 
giv(; them to the State, must have been as remarkable as 
the valleys in wliieh tliev lived are noteworthy for ilicir 
loveliness. 



230 grandfather's tales. 



FLORA Mcdonald. 

On man 
He tried His 'prentice han', 
And then He made the lasses O. 

— Bums. 

There is only one woman who has been identified witJi 
North Carolina history that has been mentioned in two 
hemispheres. Flora McDonald, a Scotch lassie, when a 
sweet, bright girl in the island uf South Uist in the High- 
lands of Scotland, where she was born and reared, ahel 
tered and concealed Charles Edward, known in English 
Histoiy as the Pretender, in her womanly apparel, after 
the disastrous battle of Culloden, in 1745, with conrageo-us 
defiance of danger and at the peril of her own safety. 

Edward became a fugitive after the battle of Culloden 
and w^as closely pursued by his enemies. The power of 
the Highland '^lairds," who were his adherents, was de- 
stroyed by their defeat at Culloden, and Charles Edward 
sought concealment in the mountains of Rosshire, escap- 
ing capture by the generous self-sacrifice of Mackenzie. 
He found a temporary shelter in the mountain fastnosjcs 
of the island of South Uist. lie was in hiding with 
Laird McDonald. He was in imminent danger of imme- 
diate capture. The wife of the laird on whose domain 
he was in hiding was in deep s^mipathy with Prince Ed- 
ward and proposed several projects for his escape. Fi- 
nally she suggested that they should disguise him in 
female attire and pass him off as a travelling waiting-maid 
But it was difficult to find any one who would assume the 
dangerous place of his mistress. Two had declined. 
Flora McDonald, the young and beautiful daughter of a 
petty laird on the island, had a stepfather who was an 
adherent of the government. She was approached by the 
good woman who knew the peril of the Prince. She 
asked Flora if she would undertake the escape of Prince 
Edward as her waiting-maid. With the womanly in- 



FLORA M' DONALD. 23 1 

stinct of sjTnpatliy for the distressed, she accepted the 
perilous task. The Prince was concealed in a rocky wild 
in the mountain. Thither Flora was taken by a trusled 
officer of the Prince's forces. They found him alone,, 
broilinjO" a small fish on the coals for his solitary repast. 
At first he was startled, supposing them to be his enemies, 
and made ready to defend his life. He soon saw thcjy 
were his friends. He readily accepted their plans for 
his escape. Preparations were made for leaving the is- 
land. Flora secured a passport from her stepfather, who 
M'as a British officer, for herself and her companions, in- 
clnding a stout Irish woman, whom she called Betsey 
Burke. 

kSoon after, the travelling party set out from Uist in an 
o])en boat for the Isle of Skye. A violent storm arose. 
All were alarmed for their safety. The heroic girl en- 
couraged the oarsmen with words of cheer. Betty Burke 
(the l*retender) sang Highland songs and recited wild 
legends to encourage them. As they approached the Isle 
of Skye a band of soldiers drawn up on the shore, fired 
on them, and as the balls were whistling near them thev 
changed their course and landed at another point on the 
island. Concealing the Prince in a hollow rock on tiie 
beach, Flora re])aired to the Chieftain's headquartors. 
The Laird was absent, but Flora saw his wife and ap- 
pealed, not in vain, to the generous enthusiasm of woman. 
The heart responded to the appeal of humanity, and she 
gave orders for the fugitive's safe departure. He was 
conducted to a safe retreat and embarked for the Isle of 
Hearsay, where he found friends. 

i\.t ])arting with Flora, Charles Edward, the imhappy 
fugitive that she had so bravely protected, kissed her hand 
and said, "Gentle, faithful maiden, I hope we shall yet 
meet in the Palace Royal." But they never met again. 

After Charles Edward had escaped to France, the indig- 
nation of the officers of the crown fell upon those who had 
aided him in his flight. Flora was arrested with others, 
and im])risoned in the Tower of London, to be tried for 



232 grandfather's tales. 

hor life. While in prison, the beauty and bravery of the 
<;irl, who, witliout religious or political motive, had suffere«l 
so much for the cause of distressed royalty, deeply inter- 
ested the English nobility. Bv their influence and exer- 
tions she was finally released. Presents were showered 
upon lier after her release. She received gold ornaments 
and coin, wliich she brought with her when she emigrated 
to Carolina. She was presented to George the Second^ 
King of England. When he ashed her how she dared 
render assistance to the enemy of his crown, she answered : 
"It was no more than I would have done for your Majesty, 
had vou ])eeii in a like situation." She was returned to 
Scorliind under the escort of Malcolm McLeod, a fellow 
prisoner, with great show and equipage. 

Four years after, she married Allan McDonald, a Scot- 
tish Laird, who in 1775, emigrated to North Carolina with 
his family and some friends and settled at Cross CreeK, 
now Fayetteville, where a large number of distressed Scot- 
tish families sought refuge from the civil disturbances in 
the IJritish Empire. 

1)111 lliey soon found disturbances and w'ar in their 
adopted hom(\ where eommotidu was rampant. The 
contest ])etween the British Government and its Ame/ican 
colonies was tlicn imminent, and it soon burst into .(lame. 
Th(^ Highlanders, who fled from Scotland for peace and 
quiet, sympatlii^ed with the Government that they had 
so lately been in arms against. They were summoned by 
the Colonial Governor to support the royal cause. They 
res]iouded to the call. General Donald McDonald, a kins- 
man of Flora and the most influential man among Lheni, 
erected his standard at Cross Creek, and on the first of 
Febniary, 1776, sent out his proclamation, calling on all 
his true and loyal countrymen to join him. The husband 
of Flora an<l most of the Tlighlanders joined the royal 
ranks. Fhu-a gave her influence to the cause her husband 
and kiusiiKMi had espoused and animated her countrymen 
in arms. They met the Patriots at the early ''Battle of 
Moore's Creek Bridge," and found another Culloden. 



FLORA M' DONALD. 233 

After the battle General Donald McDonald, who bad 
been commissioned as General of the royal forces in I^orth 
^'arolina, was taken prisoner while sitting on a stump near 
his tent. Allen McDonald, the husband of Flora, was also 
taken prisoner, and they with some twenty others were sent 
prisoners to Halifax. 

Allen and his family, after this disastrous experience, 
and release, as a prisoner, determined to return to 'd\eiv 
old home in the Highlands. On their return vo^'^age in a 
British sloop of war, they encountered a French ship of 
war and an engagement ensued. In the action Flora, who 
was in the thick of the fight, encouraging the men, was 
wounded. The enemy was beaten off and the heroin© was 
landed safely on her native* soil. 

Her eventful life closed March 5th, 1790. More than 
three thousand ]iersons followed her remains to the ceme- 
tery Kilmuir, in the Isle of Skye. According to her 
wish, ber shroud was made of the sheets in which Prince 
Edward had slept the night he was her guest at Kings- 
bury. 



234 grandfather's tales, 

the black flag. 

(SCENES OF FRATERNAL STRIFE.) 

Eighteen hundred and sixty-three was the dark year 
in the history of the Civil War, in this town and the adja- 
cent section of North Carolina. It was the dark and 
bloody district. Human life was not more valued or more 
secure than a raccoon's. The battlefields of iSi'orthera Vir- 
ginia were havens of rest and happiness to it. We liave 
heard of black flags in war, in which human beings became 
incarnate devils and laid aside all the instincts of liuman- 
ity. We never saw a black flag but once. The man who 
carried it we suspected was an Ishmaelite, and that his 
hand was uplifted against every other man. Its pictorial 
emblems were a skeleton, cross-bones, and sockets whenco 
eyes once looked out. He showed it to us and told us it 
meant war to the invaders without quarter and without 
mercy. He had another, and we were told that he showed 
it to the other side. Buffaloes, spies, tale-bearers, non- 
combatant buffaloes were everywhere. The worst features 
of human nature were developd in a rieli soil and danger 
was all around you. We have heard of "marching through 
Georgia" and its horrors of bummers and pillage and ra- 
pine. But this was marching into Elizabeth City and 
staying there. It is a common reference to the sad days of 
the reconstruction period from 1860 to 1870 as full of out- 
rage, oppression and hardship, but they were halcyon days 
for Elizabeth City, compared with the bloody black Hag 
days of 1863. 

Roanoke Island was in the hands of the Federal tro")ps 
and it Avas a safe retreat for negroes, and a paradise of 
Union men, spies and I^orthem sympathizers. No wlii.s- 
per of a true Southern man, but it M'as reported at head- 
quarters at Roanoke Island in less time than twenty-ieur 
hours. Your nearest neighbor was often your truest snd 
crudest enemy. 

Our little children (the largest were away) liad a toy 



THE BLACK FLAG. 235 

Confederate flag about as big as your hand, and in child- 
ish sport they nailed it to the outside gate. It was not 
there two hours, when it was taken down from motives of 
prudence. Next day a raiding party of negroes and white 
men came to the house from the river landing, and in an 
imperative manner demanded a search of the house for 
Confederate flags. Trunks were rudely burst open and 
rifled. A little flag, the childrens' plaything, was found. 
They bore it off in triumph, and it was doubtless exhibited 
at headquarters on Roanoke Island as a trophy of victory. 
Raids of whites and negroes w^e're of weekly occurrence, and 
oftener. Wc carried our lives in our hands. In Perquim- 
ans, Tom I^ewby, a quiet, estimable and inoffensive citi- 
zen, a cultured gentleman, was called to his door at night 
by a raiding party from Roanoke Island and cruelly shot 
and killed without a word of warning. Our guerilla pro- 
tectors shot and killed Black Sanders from the bushes, in 
retaliation, and the cruel war without military organiza- 
tion went on. The Sanders Federal gang shot and killed 
Ad. White, an innocent man found with a gun on his shoul- 
der. The guerillas under Elliott and Sanderlin shot and 
killed Cox at Tnmk Bridges and a child that he held be- 
fore him as a shield. Buffaloes and their allies were ram- 
pant. Pete Burgess, of Camden, a noted buffaloe, with a 
gang of buffaloes, shot and killed McPherson in or near 
his own house before the eyes of his weeping wife and chil- 
dren. Later, Wild, the one-armed commander of the ne- 
gro troops "who disgraced his epaulettes and blue coat, ar- 
rested Daniel Bright, a soldier of Ilinton's regimen':, at 
home on furlough, and hung him without accusation or 
trial at the '^River Bridge," now "Hinton's Corner."' A 
raiding party of Hinton's regiment, arrested a buffalo, 
hung him, suspended his body from a limb and placed a 
placard on his breast stating that he was hung in retalia- 
tion for the murder of Daniel Bright. 

That surely was a time of horrors, a war without arndes 
or the pomp and pageantry of military array. It wa^ an 
internecine war in which all the ties of neighborhood, 



236 grandfather's tales. 

brotherhood and civilization were rvidely sundered. The 
charge at Ballaklava in whieh no question of the reason 
why, no action but to do or die, was in the minds of those 
heroes on the march to death, pales before the glare of 
such Avarf are. Pettigrcw's bloodv charae at the heighU' of 
Gettysburg is child's play in comparison with it. In Gen- 
eral Sherman's classic phraseology, ''war is hell." What, 
pray, would he have called such a war as we had here in 
old times in this town. It was war without its pomp and 
pageantry, without the amenities and chivalry of organized 
warfare, without a recognized code and rules of civilized 
war, without the ''paths of glory" leading to Uie grave. 
It was one long, weary, suspicious, frightful watch, sur- 
prise and reality. For months we never went to our f I'oiit 
door without Tmconsciously turning our sleepless eyes to 
the river shore in search of a foeman, who Avas a wolf in 
his lair, ready to spring upon us from covert. 

During the whole of this long, black night of terrors 
there was but one fight in the open, between our Ranger 
protectors and the Federal cavalry raiders. It w-as in the 
upper part of Pasquotank, near the fatal spot w'here Daniel 
Bright was murdered. It was po])ularly called the battle 
of ''Tuttle's Run," not so called from any local associa- 
tion, but from the rapid ''run" made from the field by 
Jack Tuttle, a member of the company who had never be- 
fore heard the siz of a rifle ball. One struck Jack's gun 
and gave him a sudden attack of St. Vitus' and he "got up 
and dusted," the boys cheering as he ran. It was the l)at- 
tlo in which our boys behaved like veterans in the ojien 
field, in wdiich the Federal cavalry were driven back, and 
in which the brave captain Tom Tamplin was wounded and 
was borne from the field in the arms of his loving com- 
rades. 



REMNANTS OF LO. 237 



REMNANTS OF LO. 

Oh, a wonderful stream is the river of Time 
As it runs through the reahii of tears. 

— Taylor. 

In Jackson and Swain e<»nntios is a reservation where 
a remnant of the Cherokee Indians still dwell, and wo be- 
lieve it is the home of more of the aboriginal Red men than 
(\in elsewhere be found east of the Mississippi. The Chero- 
kees were Southern Indians and traditional accounts say 
they originally had their hunting grounds in the region of 
which Charlotte is now the centre. It was somewhere 
about the year 1600, some fifty years before ISTorth Caro- 
lina was settled, that a powerful tribe came down froni 
Canada and fought three consecutive days with the Chero- 
kees, great slaughter being inflicted on both sides. Then 
they took a breathing spell ; and finally it was agreed be- 
tween them that the Cherokees should move to the moun- 
tains and allow their adversaries to have the lands. And 
so the Catawbas became settled in ISForth Carolina. 

The Cherokees ^vere in the early days described as being 
less savage than most of their race, and they gav3 the 
whites no great trouble, until the French, who claimed the 
back country, induced them to become hostile to the Eng- 
lish. However, they had tlieir wars with the colonists 
who year by year pressed harder and harder on their hunt- 
ing grounds ; but they continued to hold their land in the 
mountains. As they were not citizens, and as their gov- 
ernment was tribal, the whites regarded them as a foreign 
nation, althoujjh they lived here in their owm country. And 
so treaties were made with the tribes as with foreign na- 
tions. By our treaty with the Cherokees a large territory 
in the mountains was set apart as their property, and no 
white man could lawfully buy an acre of it. But the 
whites wanted it, and so they interfered, and at length they 
induced some of the chiefs to ask the government to give 
them other lands across the Mississippi for their hunting 



23S grandfather's tales. 

grounds ; and c-ventuallj this was done, but the tribe repu- 
diated the contract. 

However, about 1837 General Winfield Scott was sent 
with some troops and forcibly moved the Cherokees from, 
our State, and the Creeks from Georgia, and carried them 
across the Mississippi to new hunting grounds in thj" In- 
dian Territory. But some of the Cherokees took Lo the 
Avoods and escaped, and after a while a new treaty avus 
made by which a large part of their reservation in our 
mountains became the property of the State, and Avas 
opened to white settlers. 

The land retained by the Indians lies in Jackson and 
Swain counties, and there tlie Indians have lived unmo- 
lested for fifty years, increasing in numbers and becoming 
more and more civilized. They now dress like white peo- 
ple, and cultivate the land. They have schools, and are 
taught to speak English. It is pleasant to think thi<t at 
least a remnant of the aborigines still survive in their old 
homes, and that within the beautiful mountains of ISTorrh 
Carolina they have a retreat where they can enjoy the 
blessings of peace and security while having some of the 
advantages of civilization. 

One of these Cherokees has achieved fame thaf will per- 
petuate his name for centuries. He constructed an aipt'.a- 
bet of fifty signs that represented the sounds of his Indian 
language, and three-quarters of a centui'y ago his alphabet 
was used in printing a paper and books for his people. His 
name was Sequoia, and the story of his performance be- 
came known to a great Italian scientist who was travelling 
in this country. Years later when General Bidwell, wlio 
a few years since was the Prohibition candidate for the 
Presidency, discovered the giant redwood trees in Cali- 
fornia, the scientist at Washington proposed to call them 
Wasliingtonienses ; tlie British called them Wellingtonia ; 
but the Italian scientist called them Sequoia, in honor of the 
Cherokee ; and this name was adopted. So those big trees, 
which are 4,000 years old, and Avhich are the wonder of the 
world, will hand down the name of a Cherokee Indian to 
the remotest ases. 



A DREAD TIME. 239 

A DREAD TIME. 
"A time that tried men's sovils." 

We have sometimes, yea often, regretted that wo did 
not shoulder onr rifle during the times that tried xnen's 
souls and bodies, in the bloody era in our history from 
1861 to 1865, and that age and domestic exigency kept us 
away from the field of conflict. 

But we have frequently thought, that we, who remained 
at home in the Albemarle section of North Carolina, were 
in more danger and trouble than the honored soldier that 
responded to the first bugle call to arms and left home and 
all its endearments to face a world in arms against his 
home. Up to the fall of our forts at Hatter as, we were 
undisturbed by a hostile presence. Our troubles were 
such as we imagined. It was considered an asylum for 
those who from stress of circumstances or other cause -.vere 
not in the camp or on the battlefield, which was their nor- 
mal place. 

But when Hatteras fell, the scene was wholly changed. 
0\ir Illiad of woes then began. Squads of soldiers came 
lip occasionally. Some of them were inoffensive, especially 
the early visitors. They seemed uneasy, but looked around 
with searching eyes, as if to take in the situation for some 
ulterior purpose. 

In 1863 a small body of Federal troops were sent to 
occupy Elizabeth City. ' They were under the command 
of two brothers, nained Sanders. One of them, having 
black hair, was familiarly known as ''Black Sanders." 
The other having light hair was known as "White ft-an- 
ders." Our local guerilla company had their eyes upon 
them and were secretly keeping informed of all their 
movements. One night Black Sanders, with some "buf- 
faloe" friends, attended a negro dance party near u.iwn. 
Some of our guerilla friends, knowing the street tliey 
would come back to town, secreted themselves at the west 
corner of Main street, opposite the Albemarle House (then 



240 grandfather's tales. 

the Leigh House). Sanders was mortally wounded. He 
fled to their headquarters at the Grandy House on Shepard 
street and died soon after reaching town. 

It was a hot time in town the next day. The Fed- 
eral camp on Shepard street was wrought up to intense ex- 
citement and the atmosphere was lurid with threals of 
vengeance. The pall of death and secrecy that hung over 
the dreadful tragedy was well established, but no trace of 
the actors could be found. 

The Federal soldiers of the camp were out scouring the 
country to find some clew to the tragedy, but their search 
was unavailing. 

At length they fell in with Ad. White, somewhere in 
town, with a gun on his shoulder. They took him ]"tris- 
oner. There was no evidence of his guilt. He disclaimed 
all knowledge of the circumstance of the shooting. He 
was a citizen of Perquimans, and a visitor to Elizabeth 
City. He was obstinate, unyielding, and an intense Con- 
federate of the stalwart type. He made no confessions. 
They wanted a victim, and Ad. White was found with a 
gun on his shoulder. He was condemned, sentenced to 
be shot, and the sentence was executed the same day. He 
was a brave and obstinate man and died without fear, a 
martyr to his convictions and his patriotism. 

The man in the guerilla camp who fired the fatal 
shot that sent '"Black Sanders" without shrift to his dread 
account, has never been known with certainty. He was 
])robably killed by a volley. 

It was supposed by many at the time that he was killed 
by Arthur Butt, a man of many intellectual gifts, but more 
eccentricities and of infinite jest. 

He was the life of the social circle, a man of ardent tem- 
perament and Southern sympathies. He was a country 
schoolmaster and a good elocutionist. 

During the bloody times a newspaper was a rare sight, 
and sometimes we got a Confederate paper published on 
dirty brown paper, arid sometimes, though rarely, we came 
in possession of a aSTorthern paper. When we got one it 



A DREAD TIME. 24I 

was the attraction of the town, and Arthur mounted a 
goods box and read the war news to an attentive crowd of 
eager listeners. 

Poor Artliur ! peace and blessings on his memory. How 
oft he sat an audience on a roar. How oft he roused the 
drooping spirits and brought cheerful happiness out of 
the depths of despair. 

After the death of Ad. White there was intense excite- 
ment throughout this vicinity. Some clamored for retali- 
ation, but we were disheartened, broken in spirit, trodden 
under foot by raids, and we do not know that there were 
any retaliatory steps. 



16 



242 grandfather's tales. 



THE KING OF BIRDS AND THE BRAVEST ' 
OF BEASTS. 

For an island twelve miles long and two wide, and in- 
habited by some seven hundred people, Roanoke Island 
has been as loud a spot as anj of the same nnmber of sqc'are 
inches on the globe. It has been full of sensations from 
the jump; and from the ■ birth-day of Virginia Dare in 
1585, to the bully fight of recent date, in which birds, boost 
and woman bore a hand, a period near unto three hundred 
years, it has seldom been without an eye-opener in the 
shape of a sensation. It has been the scene of bloody fights 
between hostile Indian tribes, and between civilized ar;nies 
in hostile array. Savage and civilized relics of remote 
ages and modern convulsions are hidden beneath, or wave- 
washed upon the surface of its golden sands. Indian forts, 
and cairns, and tumuli attest its hoary history. Abel's 
pet dog that sings in church meetings ; and the canary that 
praises itself in parrot English, attest the attainments of 
its beasts and birds, in polite accomplishments. Lewis 
Mann's sixty alligators, hatched and reared in a poiato- 
house, attest the fecundity of its soil — or the fecundity 
of Lewis' imagination. Two miles from the shore, at the 
point at the gateway to Oregon, lie luscious bivalves. Wild 
fowl of every name feed upon its grasses. Its men are 
the best specimens of stalwart and athletic manhood; its 
women of feminine loveliness. 

But to our tale. 

At Eoanoke Island, a soaring eagle, towering in his p-ide 
of might, turned his proud eye from gazing at the sun, 
upon the quiet yard of Walter Dough. A flock of fat geese 
that nipt the tender yard grass, invited his eye and tenrpted 
his taste. The glance was father to the thought- and 
down he pounced. The feathers flew, the geese squawked, 
and there was a sensation in that fainn yard — and there 
was a dog there, too. A goose is put down as a fool, but it 
is a vulgar error. A goose is a particular smart fellow. 



KING OF BIRDS AND BRAVEST OF BEASTS. 243 

And so was this one the eagle struck. As soon as the eagle 
struck, the goose ran under the house, which was some two 
feet above ground, with the eagle fastened to her back, 
and the rest of the flock in hot pursuit. And there the 
fight grew fast and furious. Forty biting and flopping 
geese on one side, and the king of birds on the other. Al- 
though outnumbered, the eagle maintained the fight and 
clung to his victim. 

But soon another enemy presented himself. An enemy 
more terrible than an army of geese — a bull-terrier dog — 
little, but full of fight. It wasn't fair ; and the dog had 
no natural, belligerent rights in a combat between birds ; 
l)ut he came with a bound, and the eagle had no time to 
settle questions of military ethics ; so he threw himself on 
his back (eagle, fashion) to do his best in this hard fight 
between tooth and toenail. The dog made a lunge at tlie 
eagle's breast, and the eagle stuck his claws deep into the 
I log's fore-shoulder. 

The blow was simultaneous on either side. Both blows 
told. But a terrier never, and an eagle hardly ever, says 
die. The only witnesses of the dread combat were die 
geese, who now stood off and looked on, and Miss Martha 
Brothers, who was singing to her spinning jenny, in the 
house alone, when the fight began ; and who in the end was 
to be the conquering hero, crowned with the laureb of 
\dctory. The battle raged. Teeth gnashed. Claws staved. 
Eyes flamed. But eagles, like men, contend against odds 
when fighting against fate, and so this eagle's great heart 
sank within him, and turning tail upon his foe he sought 
safety in flight. But his retreat Avas slow and full of diffi- 
culty — for lie had fifteen pounds of bull ten-ior swinging 
behind him. He reached the yard fence. With one des- 
perate effort he sought to scale it. He reached its top- 
most round. He bore a weight he could not further carry. 
There they stood, victor and vanquished. Then it was that 
Miss Martha Brothers, the true hero of the fight, came to 
the front, and won the palm of victory. Seizing a rail, 
with one fell swoop, she came down with a crash upon the 



244 grandfather's tales. 

eagle's head, and left liiiii jjrostrate, struggling in the ago- 
nies of death ; the victim of a comhination too powerful 
to be resisted. Alas poor eagle ! He measured nine feet 
between the tips of his outstretehed wings. 



GEN. JAMES MARTIN. 

While a foreign troop was landed in my countrj\ I never would 
lay down my arras, never ! never ! never ! 

— Lord Chathavi. 

James Greex Mautiiv was born on Main street in 
Elizabeth City, E". C, on the 14th of February, ICll). 
From the Academy in Elizabeth City, he continued his 
education at the Episcopal school in Kaleigh, until the 
year 1835, when, upon the recommendation of Hon. Win. 
B. Shepard, representative in Congress from the First Dis- 
trict, he was appointed to a cadetship at West Point. Acter 
the four years course at that institution, he was graduated, 
No. 14, in the class of which Generals Sherman and 
Thomas wei'e members, and was assigned to the Artillery. 
Ho was first assigned to duty on the Maine frontier, when 
the boundary dispute tlireatened conflict with Canada. 

He went to the Mexican war under the conunaml of 
General Worth, and was with him at the capture of Monte- 
rey. He was afterward transferred to General Scott's 
command, and was with him in all the fights in his advance 
on the city of Mexico, up to and including the l)attl3 of 
Churubusco, where he lost his right ami. After the 
Mexican ^ar he was transferred from the line to the staff. 

When tlie war between the States was declared, he was 
at Fort Reilly, and when North Carolina, liy her act of 
secession, resumed her ])aramoiint nntlinritv. Major Mar- 
tin, recognizing his allogianco to liis State, liis honr^ and 
his kindred, returnc(l and otfcrcd liis sword to North (^i.io- 
lina. He was made Adjutant-General, with the rank of 
Major-General, and commenced at once the organization 



GEN. JAMES MARTIN. 245 

of that splendid body of troops that in the Confederate 
Government was the right arm of the service. This work 
done, he went into the field as a Brigadier-General in the 
(confederate Army. In the proposed attack on jSTew Bc)*n, 
l>y General Hill, he was ordered with his brigade to Shep- 
ardsville, to cnt oif communication between Morehead City 
and IS^ew Bern. He attacked and took the forts at iSliep- 
iirdsville, capturing a good many Federal prisonero and 
destroying Federal property. The attack on New Bern 
was abandoned and our troo])s in retreat, when the news 
reached General Martin. He moved away to avoid an 
attack from New Bern and reached Wilmington, with all 
his prisoners. In 1864, his Brigade was ordered to report 
to General Beauregard, at Petersburg, and was engaged 
in the fight at Bermuda Hundreds where General Butler 
was "bottled up." Thence he joined General Lee, with 
his brigade, at Richmond, and was at the second battle of 
r^old Harbor, thence back to Petersburg, and engagod in 
many of the fights at that place, Frem Petersburg, Gen- 
eral Martin was sent by General Lee to Asheville to take 
command of the western part of the State of North (jaro- 
lina, where he was when General Johnston surrendered. 

After the close of the war General Martin studied and 
obtained license to practice law, in which professional busi- 
ness he was engaged to the time of his death. 

In the private relations of life General Martin M^as 
l)lameless and exemplary. He was an earnest and devout 
member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, an earnest 
worker in its religious enterprises, and an influential mem- 
ber of its diocesan and general councils. Doubtless, ere 
this, he has entered upon that new^ condition of life where 
a beneficent Creator bestows the higher rewards of a \\cll- 
spent life. 



246 grandfather's tales, 

charles r. kinney. 

"A pebble in ovir path oft turns the current of our life."' 

About the year 1820 there came from Norwich, Conn., 
to Norfolk, Virginia, on his way to Mobile, Alabama, to 
repair his broken fortunes, Charles R. Kinney, a young 
man about twenty-six years of age, destined, in after years, 
to fill a place in the affections and influence and antago- 
nisms of the bar in the Edenton District and also, in our 
judgment, to occupy the foremost rank in ability and legal 
attainments and in large practice among the members 'jf a 
bar distinguished for learning and ability. There hap- 
pened in Norfolk at the same time, a gentleman from 
Camden County, N. C, Miles Gregory, a wealthy farmer, 
who was stopping at the same hotel with the young stran- 
ger, and happening to get into conversation with him, 
found he was in search of employment. The conversa- 
tion resulted in making an engagement with Mr. Kinney 
to come to Camden and teach the children of Mr. Gregory, 
in his family. He came out to Camden througli the Dis- 
mal Swamp Canal in a canal boat, according to the custom 
of the period, and becoming a member of the family he 
took charge of Mr. Gregory's children, and taught them for 
two or three years. While he was at this business, in that 
county, in the vicinity of Elizabeth City, he occasionally 
came over to the town where he fonned the acquaintance of 
Jno. L. Bailey, a practicing lawyer on the circuit, 'l.'he 
acquaintance ripened into an intimate friendship, which 
continued, without abatement, tlirough life. ^Ir. Bailey, 
afterward Judge Bailey, was a kind man, sympathized 
with the struggling, and soon became acquainted with the 
condition of young Kinney, a poor man, ardent, ambitious, 
educated, M'ith refined and noblo instincts, and every inch 
a man. The result of the friendship was the entrance of 
Kinney as a law student of Bailey. He had left in Nor- 
wich a wife and infant child, entirely dependent upon 



CHARLES R. KINNEY. 247 

him, and he continued his labors as a schoolmaster in the 
family of Mr. Gregory, while pursuing his law studies un- 
der the tuition of Mr. Bailey. He made proficiency in 
his legal studies, and obtained his admission to the bar in 
regular course. After obtaining his license at the bar, he 
discontinued his employment with Mr. Gregory and re- 
moved to Elizabeth City to enter upon the business of his 
life, and to make it his home until he died. His attain- 
ments in his profession, his superior natural gifts, and his 
impulsive and chivalrous nature soon made him conspicu- 
ous in his new home, and made him friends and foes. To 
his friends he was most faithful, sympathizing, affection- 
ate, making himself part and parcel of all their joys and 
sorrows ; to his foes he was dauntless, unyielding, firm, and 
liold as a tiger with fresh blood upon his teeth ; but his 
heart was tender as a child's, and melted at the offer of 
kindness from his bitterest foe. 

Mr. Kinney did not get into practice rapidly. In 
infancy he fell from his nurse's arms, and his back was 
injured by the fall. This deformed him in the back, below 
the shoulders, and lowered his stature from about six feet 
to about five feet, nine inches, but it did not impair his 
activity or gracefulness. He was unrivalled in feats of 
activity and horsemanship. He was a member of the 
cavalry company in town, and none of the members of the 
company were superior to him in feats of daring rough 
riding. This deformity, and perhaps some traits of inde- 
pendent character, had caused him to incur the prejudice 
of some of the .young men of the to\m who proposed to be 
the regulators of society and to make everything conform 
to their ideas of taste and propriety. Kinney was unwil- 
ling to accept their dictatorship, and thought and acted for 
himself, independently of their social influence. This 
wore on until it amounted to positive and active hostility, 
leading to crimination and recrimination, newspaper and 
pamphlet controversy and to street encounters, and finally 
to challenges to mortal combat. Kinney defied them on 
every field. He was opposed to duelling from principle. 



248 grandfather's tales. 

He so proclaimed it, and his known opinions may have 
made it their chosen mode of redress. He was taunted 
with his nativity, with his lineage, of which they k:icw 
nothing. He was goaded to madness. In one of his n3ws- 
paper controversies, in reply to the allusion to his lineage, 
in a burst of feeling he said : 

•'My father yet lives, old and venerable. He never had 
the honor of sending or accepting a challenge. His cour- 
age ran in a different channel. Ere he had reached the 
threshold of manhood he bared his bosom to the battle's 
rage in the eventful struggle which separated the American 
colonies from British dependence." 

He accepted the challenge, and it was no fault of his 
that it was bloodless. 

On the general cii'cuit of the Edenton District, Mr. 
Kinney had so small an appearance that for a long time he 
was little knoAvu or considered. At Currituck where, in 
later years, his ojunion was law, and he had an appearance 
on one side of every important case on the docket, it was 
five years that he went to the Court an unsolicited, briefless 
barrister, and at the expiration of that time a more acci- 
dent gave him an appearance. 

In the county of Currituck, in 1828, an atrocious murder 
of an old man was committed, and from suspicious eii"- 
cumstances public sentiment settled upon John Chittem 
and his wife. They were arrested and confined in the 
common jail, and tlie body of the murdered man was 
found in an old well. Chittem was a wealthy man, and 
employed all tlio bar to defend him, except Mr. Kinney, 
thinking he was not worth emplovdng. Iredell was prose- 
cuting attorney for the State. Before the case came on 
for trial, during the Spring Term, Judge Lowry, who was 
presiding, died on the circuit, and Mr. Iredell was ap- 
pointed by the Governor to fill his place. This created 
a vacancy in the office of Solicitor. When (!!5urrituck Court 
came on, Mr. J\inney was the only lawyer unemplovcd, 
and the Judge ex necessitate had to appoint him to prose- 
cute. When the case Avas called, from some cause, proba- 



CHARLES R. KINNEY. ' 249 

ably from the recent appointment of the Solicitor and his 
want of time to examine the case, it was continued to tho 
next tenn of the Court. There was a formidable array of 
counsel for the defense, headed by Isaac Lamb, then a lead- 
ing attoi'ney in that part of the District. Kinney, as act- 
ing Solicitor, was alone in the^^rosecution. The testimony 
was entirely circumstantial. Chittem had married tho 
young widow of the murdered old man soon after his death. 
Other circumstances, many, pointed to the foul woric of 
the old man's taking off. Kinney had ample time, and 
had made thorough preparation. His speech was wri«"'.en 
out, biit not committed to memory. We have seen it in 
manuscript. It was the closing speech, but befora its 
close the case was decided. It summed up the testimony 
with terrible effect, and when, at the close of the artistic 
presentation of all the circumstances in phalanx, he pointed 
his long ann and index finger at Chittem, and with liis 
deep, sonorous tones, said : ''As ISTathan said unto David, 
thou art the man." The bosom of the prisoner heaved a 
sigh, and Isaac Lamb's foot moved to and fro, his custom- 
ary signal of mental giving away. Chittem was convicted 
and executed near Currituck Court House. 

We have heard Mr. Kinney say that that speech was 
worth a thousand dollars to him in an hour after he left 
the court-room. Lie was always after employed in all 
the leading cases on the docket. 

He rose about that time to be the leader on the circuit. 
From Currituck to Tyrrell and Hertford he was the ac- 
knowledged leader, primus inter pares. His practice was 
large and his income ])robably the largest from law prac- 
tice in the District. But he never valued money, and cared 
little about its accumulation, squandering large sums upm"" 
agricultural experiments, of which he was very fond./\H 
often said the reason he did not accumulate monef% .as 
that he knew not the difference between six cents p-'^'X six 
and a quarter. 

We have oftcMi mentally enquired what were Mr. Kin- 
ney's infirmities, for as the sparks fly upward, it is the 



250 grandfather's tales. 

common penalty of life. He had fewer than most men. 
He was impetuous, quick, but his heart \vas as large as 
humanity. As he truly said in a memorial address upon 
the death of the lamented W. W. Cherry, if he could he 
"would have wiped all tears from all eyes." In his pro- 
fessional practice, perhaps, his fault was that he was not 
sufficiently aroused to the minor matters of the law. In y 
matter which involved large property, or in a matter in 
which a poor client was greatly wronged, all the energies 
of his nature were fully aroused and all his great ability 
was put forth, and upon such occasions we have never seea 
him equalled. At other times he was a sleeping lion. At 
such times, to use the vulgar but significant phrase, he 
was apt to "go off half-cocked." This perhaps was the 
fault of his professional life. 

His voice was soft, variable and full of sympathy, capa- 
ble of expressing the deepest emotions of horror, disgust 
and denunciation. When a boy we happened in the court- 
house wdien he was defending a client where the defend- 
ant's brother was a witness for tlie State, upon a charge of 
larceny. The denunciations of the w-ituess as a "ba32 
betrayer of his brother's blood," and his irate manner, 
still thrill us. 

About 1844 his health began to decline, and he was often 
compelled to be absent from his courts. In 1845 he went 
to the Virginia Springs and his health was much restored. 
He was greatly encouraged. At Gates Court he was in 
fine spirits, and the accounts he gave of the men he met 
during the summer were exceedingly interesting. We went 
up witli him to the court, and he remarked if he could go 
every year to ihe Greenbriar Springs he could live to three- 
quarters of a century. From Gates Court he returned to 
^il'zabeth City with fine prospects of health and liappi- 
nti\ir The next week was Chow^an Court, at Eden ton. We 
wenortjip in our sulkies. (We hope the kind reader -wiU 
pardon the egotism of this last brief narrative.) On Wed- 
nesday of the week Mr. Kinney was engaged in the trial 
of the Mosmer-Noreom case, a case of intense interest, in 



CHARLES R. KINNEY. 25 1 

which a whole community was torn and terribly excited 
with angry passions. He entered upon the trial with his 
customary zeal and fearlessness. We went into the court- 
house while the trial was progressing, after having been 
absent a short while. We missed Mr. Kinney, and some 
one told us he had a slight hemorrhage in the excitement of 
the trial. We went out in search of him, found him in 
the office of Dr. Norcom, on Queen street, silent, wan and 
greatly depressed. He enquired when we were going 
down, said he would go immediately, and requested us to 
join him on the road. We hurried off to overtake him. 
As we passed through the town of Hertford, Mr. Jones 
came out from Dr. Johnson's office and motioned us to 
stop. Mr. Kinney, he said, was in the office in a dying 
condition. We hurried to the hotel and returned to the 
office. As we entered the ante-room, Mr. Jones, in silence, 
pointed to a bowl filled with blood. We went into the ad- 
joining room where lay our dying friend. He turned to 
us his dying eyes in recognition and gave us his hand. He 
died with his hand in ours, and with the last words, feebly 
uttered, "I know my fate. I'm not alarmed. My wife 
and children, that's all," passed away without a struggle, 
at the age of fifty-three years. 



252 grandfather's tales. 

mrs. rachel caldwell. 

'• Woman's wit is wiser than mans wisdom." 

Dk. David Caldwell is a conspicuous figure in the an- 
nals of iSTorth Carolina. He was the jnoneer of education 
in North Carolina. He antedates both Mui-pheyand Wiley, 
and established a school in Guilford County before the 
war of the Revolution, that gave education to many prom- 
inent professional men and clergymen of the Presbyterian 
Church, of which he was a distinguished minister. 

His wife was his "helpmeet indeed." He was an ardent 
patriot and Whig during the troublous times of the Revo- 
lution, and was an object of hatred to the Tories who lived 
in his neighborhood, and his wife often rendered him and 
the patriots assistance in times of peril that made her 
greatly beloved by her countrymen during and after the 
war. 

Several cases are mentioned of her readiness in dan- 
gerous emergencies. Upon one occasion. Dr. Caldwell, 
who had been in hiding in the woods to escape capture, 
returned stealthily to his house, and while there his house 
was suddenly surrounded by armed men who seized him 
before he could escape, designing to carry him to the 
British camp. He was put under a guard of one or two 
men, while the others searched the house for plunder. 
When tbey were nearly ready to depart, the plunder being 
piled in the middle of the room, the prisoner beside it 
with his guard, Mrs. Caldwell, who was in an adjoining 
room, came in, stepped behind Dr. Caldwell, leaned over 
his shoulder, and whispered to him as if intending the 
question for his ear alone, asking if it was not time for 
Gillespie and his men to be there. One of the soldiers 
near by caught the words, and knowing Gillespie was a 
brave and dangerous Patriot partisan, demanded with ap- 
parent alarm what was meant by the whispered words. 
Mrs. Caldwell replied tliat she was merely speaking to her 



MRS. RACHEL CALDWELL. 253 

brother. The party was panic stricken. Hurried ques- 
tions were exchanged among them, and they soon hur- 
riedly fled, abandoning tlieir prisoner and the plunder. 
This simple manoeuvre of a tlioughtful woman produced 
consternation among the enemy, and relieved her husband 
and her property. That whisper drove them away. 

In the fall of 1780 a stranger, weary with long travel, 
stopped at the house of Dr. Caldwell and asked for supper 
and a night's lodging. He said that he had stopped there 
because Dr. Caldwell was a clergyman, and he knew that 
he was a friend of his country. He said he was the bearer 
of dispatches from General Washington to Greneral Greene 
of an important character. Mrs. Caldwell told him of 
his danger, that she was alone and her husband was an 
object of peculiar hatred to the Tories, and it was uncer- 
tain when an attack would be made on the house. Should 
they hear that a messenger from Washington was in the 
house and had important ])apers, he would be robbed before 
morning; that he should have sometliing to eat immedi- 
ately, but advised him to seek a safer place of shelter for 
The night. Soon hoarse voices were heard outside, crying 
"Surround the house," and a body of Tories rushed in. 
Just before they entered tlie house, Mrs. Caldwell bade the 
stranger follow her, and she led him out by a private door, 
A large locust tree stood outside. Pointing to it, she di- 
rected him to climb up in its thick and thorny branches and 
conceal himself. The night was intensely dark. She 
directed him to conceal himself until they commenced to 
plunder the house. He could then descend on the other 
side and make his escape. The house was pillaged, but 
the express messenger escaped. 

Dr. Caldwell and his brother Alexander had plantations 
nearby. One evening when Alexander was absent from 
home, two British soldiers, marauding in the neighbor- 
hood, came to Alexander's house, and after plundering it, 
ordered his wife to get supper for him. She hurried a 
messenger over to her brother-in-law to advise her. He 
sent word to treat them kindly and get supper for them, 



254 grandfather's tales. 

but she must observe where they placed their guns and set 
the table at the other end of the house. He promised to 
come over at once, conceal himself in a haystack near by, 
and she was to inform him as soon as the men had set down 
to supper. The directions were followed. While the 
men were sitting at supper, Dr. Caldwell quietly entered 
the adjoining room in which their guns had been deposited, 
took up one of the guns and stepping to the door of the 
room where they were enjoying their supper, presented 
the weapon and inforaied them they were his prisoners, 
and that their lives would be the forfeit if they attempted 
to escape. They surrendered immediately. Dr. Caldwell 
marched them before him to his own house, kept them till 
morning, and then making them take an oath of parole on 
the Holy Bible, he released them. The pledge was faith- 
fully kept. 

Dr. Caldwell lived until after the war, continuing his 
labors as a teacher and preacher. He died in 1824, in 
the hundredth year of his age. 



HE LOVED EVERYTHING IN THE STATE. 255 

HE LOVED EVERYTHING IN THE STATE. 
"Alas ! we ne'er shall see his like again."' 

Z. B. Vance is the most unique character that has ever 
lived in JSTorth Carolina history. In our Pantheon of 
great characters he stands apart. His was an all-round, 
well-balanced, even-poised, symmetrical, lovable character. 
To say that it was without fault, would be to belie our 
common nature. But the faults of his lovely make-up were 
like sun spots, scarcely visible to the naked eye. Looking 
down the long vista of great names and comparing them 
with Vance, we find Gaston his superior as an intellectual 
prodigy, a profound statesman, a laborious student, an 
accomplished scholar, an able lawyer. Badger was his 
superior as an acute dialectician, and in the versatility of 
his attainments. As a professional anecdotist, but differ- 
ing in kind. Ham Jones was his equal, if not his superior. 
Jack Stanley, of ]^ew Bern, was his superior in caustic, 
sharp and cruel repartee. Bartlett Yancey, of Caswell, 
'W'as his superior in withering and fierce invective. Wil- 
liam A. Glraham was his superior in style and courtliness ; 
W. W. Cherry, of Bertie, in ready wit and copious phrase- 
ology. 

But in his cornucopia of varied and numerous gifts, 
Zeb Vance was the superior of them all. He was "our 
own Zeb." He was "our great tribune." He was "our 
great War Governor." He was our loved leader in the 
times that tried men's souls. He gave one of his eyes to 
his loved State, and then congratulated himself that there- 
after he would have an "eye single to her service." His 
head, his heart, his strength, his manhood, his love, were 
given to N^orth Carolina, with an affluence of affection 
that no other son of hers had given. In all the grand attri- 
butes of manhood he was the equal of most and the supe- 
rior of many. 

He was Gaston without his august dignity; Badger 
without his frivolity ; Ham Jones without his infirmity of 



256 grandfather's tales. 

habits; Jack Stanley without his asperity; Bartlett Yan- 
cey without his tempestuous impetuosity ; Graham without 
his f ritrid imperturbability ; Cheriy without his diminu- 
tive personality. 

Turning from this glance at his comparative intellec- 
tual anatomy, the enquiry arises, What made our great 
Tribune the loved and honored character that he was, so 
loved and admired when living and so mourned when dead ? 

Why 'i Why is it that he is the Confucius of North 
Carolina mythology ? Mainly, it was his simple, child- 
like faith and love for North Carolina. Everything in 
North (Carolina was lovely in his eyes except its tincture 
of Republicanism. We can never forget his denunciation 
of that stench in his nostrils when he climaxed his phillipic 
b}' an expansive snort from his great nasal organ, and 
then, after a short rest, uttered the word — skunk. It was 
nasal oratory that ''Horatius might have envied and Cicero 
not despised.'' There was no demagogery in Vance's love 
for North Carolina, no pretense, no ostentation. 

In the many times we have hung delighted on his lips, 
we can recall but one in which he gave vent to his State 
love before a poj^ular audience. After telling, with tones 
and simplicity that moved all hearts, how he loved the dear 
old State, he said he was like an old North Carolina negro 
who came before a committee of the Senate, to testify as 
to the exodus of the negroes to Kansas. He said the old 
man looked old and w(nn'v, poor and foot-sore. The old 
man described to the Senators the beauties of Kansas, its 
roads and fields and fine buildings. He was making his 
way back to North Carolina. Senator Vance asked him 
wdiy he came back to North Carolina, if Kansas was so 
beautiful. He answered : "Well, I tell you, Marse Sen- 
ator, things had a on welcome look out thar, and Caliny's 
old fields and crooked fences was home." Vance loved 
North Carolina with an unfeigned love. He loved its 
young men, its old men, its old women, and loved all the 
children. 

We can not forget an incident at New Bern, at an annual 




The Vance Monument, 
At the Capitol Grounds, Raleigh. 



17 



HE LOVED EVERYTHING IN THE STATE. 259 

fair. Vance was sitting in a reception-room, and his old 
friends were calling and shaking hands with him. We 
were sitting near him, and for an honr we were interested 
and amused bj their cordial greetings. 

A tall, Ixniy and awkward fellow came in, reached out 
his hand, Vance grabbed it, and they shook and shook and 
shook, and I thought at one time they would hug right 
there before me. It was ''How do. Bob," and "How du, Col- 
onel, "until mynerves trembled andwe didn't knowwhethcr 
wo were on our head or on our heels. In their reminis- 
cences there was an allusion to Goose Creek, which seemed 
to tickle them both mightily, but which we did not under- 
stand. After Bob left, Vance explained it to us. 

On the retreat from New Bern, they were stopped at 
Goose Creek, and they had to construct a raft to get the 
regiment across. Bob concluded he could ford the creek, 
and divestiuii' liimself of his clothing placed them in a 
l)undle and gave them to a comrade to bring over to him 
A\"hen they came over on the raft. 

Bob pitched in, got across and waved his hand in sign 
of safety. At length his comrades came over on the raft, 
l)ut Bol)'s clothes could not be found. When the roll was 
called l>i>l) was there, piiris iiahiralihiis, with his musket 
on his naked shoulder. He marclied that way for several 
miles before he could cover his nakedness. 

Tliis analysis, already too long, must close. Great as 
was our loved Governor, rounded as was his character, ver- 
satile as Avere his gifts, God had much to do with his 
greatness. He drew before him such opportunities as had 
never before lieen offered to any Carolinian. He was God's 
cliosen vessel for them, and he was equal to the opportunity. 
He took them up and rode into fame on a chariot of fire, 
and came out unscorched. He Avas a co-laborer with 
God in utilizing th(^ opi)ortunit.y for this rare workman- 
sliij). 



26o grandfather's tales. 



THE BUREAU RULE IN 1866. 

"Honey, ef you feelin' prime 
Never min' de sky; 
Long ways ter de summer time, 
But bright days by en by." 

We hold these truths to be self-evident. There are 
but two leading principles upon which government can be 
successfully administered: One is the principle of love 
and the other is the principle of fear. A government ad- 
ministered upon either of these principles as its dominant 
feature may be a success and a strong government. The 
one based uj^on fear is that typified by the language of the 
centurion — go and come. Generally, but not necessarily, 
its chief motive power is the will of one man. Sometimes 
that one will may be aided by the concurrent and subser- 
vient will of a council or congress, but the one will is the 
dominant motive power of the government, exerted either 
directly or indirectly. A government, or an administra- 
tion of government of this kind may be a strong govem- 
uient; it often is; it may be a power upon the earth, com- 
nuiud respect abroad and promote the material prosperity 
of the country at liome; but it dwarfs the governed, it 
lowers them in the scale of creation, and consults neither 
their opinion nor their happiness ; it is a despotism, or 
leads directly thereto, and if not already a recognized 
(les])otisui, it rapidly and surely becomes so. Of this class 
of government the recognized representatives are Russia 
and Turkey, both autocratic governments in which the 
governed are 

•• Like dumb, driven cattle." 

This governuient in its origin was the offspring- of com- 
])romisc and good-will, formed by tlie mutual surrender of 
individual interests to the general welfare. But for that 
generous surrender of separate interests in order to pro- 
mote the general welfare, this goverament would never 



THE BURKAU RULE IN 1 866. 261 

have had an existence. But for that spirit of compromise 
and kindness, Noi'th Carolina woukl never have entered 
into the compact of government. She stood off for a long- 
time before she entered into a closer political compact 
with her sister States, and even when she did enter into 
that com])act and surrender certain of her rights, reserving 
to herself those she did not specially surrender, it was done 
against the advice of some of her ablest and purest sons, 
and against the earnest protest of Governor Samuel John- 
ston, of Edenton, who, when a defeated candidate before 
the people, in apposition to the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion, went to Halifax while the Convention was in session 
and ''lobby'd" against it. 

One pleasant evening in the sixties, sitting on the veran- 
dah inhaling the odors of lilacs and laburnums, feeling 
(luite at ease — much as Ca?sar felt the "eve he overcame 
the Nervii" — there presented himself a worthless negro 
that we had sent off from the farm shortly before for — 
well we won't say. His air was pompous, self-possessed 
ajid somewhat threatening. He bore in his hand a paper 
addressed to us. We examined critically the written 
summons, in order, with the little knowledge we had of 
the science of reading character from handwriting, to de- 
termine what manner of man he was before whom we 
were to appear. We could learn, from this examination, 
but two things about him. Unquestionably he was not a 
lawyer; and as unquestionably he was not a speller. 
■ Anned with this learning, and 

"A little learning 'aint' a dangerous thing." 

although Pope, the poet, says it is, we proceeded on Wed- 
nesday morning, as a law-abiding man, to make our prepa- 
ration t/) respond to the awful summons. 

We drew from its long, low rest a towering old "beaver" 
of the vintage of 1858, which had seen no service during 
the clash and clangor of a four years' war. An old suit 
of seedy black, once the tegument of a gentleman- — alas ! 
now "none so poor to do him reverence" — a suit which 



262 GRANDFATHKR'S TALES. 

had not suffered capture during tlie war, was produced 
and donned. An old bandana of antique size and cut, 
which, in other days, had seen other service, was thrown 
gracefully around our war-attenuated neck. The coat was 
cut from the model of the swallow's tail ; the pants were 
large and baggy, and the bandana cumbrous and heavy, 
but the beaver was the redeeming feature— a towering 
black beaver, though old and venerable, can, somehow, defy 
criticism and even I'idicule. 

Thus far fixed, we came out, and it almost opened the 
fountain of our eyes that the little children didn't know 
"their father dear." 

We presented ourselves at the open door of the temple of 
jus — no^ — wickedness, and with one of those graceful 
sweeps of the right hand, while the right foot was getting 
into position, with which we were once wont to "charm 
all hearts," we made what the French call un profond 
reverence — a low bow. 

Sam Boler was there ahead of us, at his ease and quite 
at home. The Bureau was in position. We made a 
quick and rapid survey of his physiognomy. Eyes 
small, set close together ; cunning, rat type. Jaws large, 
spreading — fiminess. Then, hurriedly as w© could, 
we throw our phrenological eyes around his head to 
see if wo could find any hope there — perceptive organs 
small, no sense; secretiveness large, do anything mean 
and keep it to himself. Oh ! what a great big bump 
just over the top of his ear, large, very large ; acquisitive- 
ness large; money — he's money on the brain. The fel- 
low'U steal. Our first thought was to address ourself to 
that organ, but we had no bribe money, in fact, none at all, 
and we gave that up. 

Having made this rapid survey, we handed in our sum- 
mons, listened to Bureau's statement of the case, and pro- 
ceeded to make the opening speech. Sam Boler replied — 
we rejoined — Boler surrejoined, and then we hutted. We 
come with a rebutter and he paid us back with a surre- 
butter. 



THE"" BUREAU RULE IN 1 866. 263 

During tlie \vliole of this trial of streugtli between Sam 
and us, Bureau sat mute and unmoved, with eyes fixed on 
the combatants, save once. Once we put on, as best we 
could, a contidential "old fd" ex])rc'S8ion and made a pass 
at his organ of acquisitiveness by saying "we were fully 
able to i^ay all costs and expenses, incidental and other, 
which might arise out of this trial," and then Bureau 
smiled — smiled a ghastly smile. 

The battle over, we awaited the decision w^hich was to 
determine the rations for ten children and three adults. 
Bureau cracked his finger joints, looked wise, and simul- 
taneously with his last crack, gave his decision, wdiich to 
us was like a rifle cracked at our breast : Sam Boler had 
won the day. 

Then it was we perorated. We took our old beaver in 
our left hand — we reared, we pitched, we charged, we beat 
in our old beaver, we re]5resented that "ram tied to a 
gate-post," we talked about the "monumental principles 
of eternal justice, and the inalienable rights of man." 
Bureau opened his mouth once and said : "I've heard that 
talk lief ore." We left the court-room like Macbeth's gaiests, 
without "minding the order of our going." 

Wo went outside and l)lowed and cooled a little, then 
went back to the door and when I put my head in the door, 
Boler had changed his place. He and Bureau were sit- 
ting "cheek-by -jowl." Bureau had a pencil in his hand, 
and I think they were doing a sum in division. 

As I was withdrawing my head I threw an unamiable 
glance at Sam Boler ; and, "holy father !" would you be- 
lieve it, he had his right hand thumb stuck on to the end 
of his nose, and his left hand thumb hitched into his right 
hand little finger and waggling liis fingers just like a 
"poomp handle," and looking riglit at us. 



264 grandfather's tales. 



THE CAPTURE OF THE MAPLE LEAF. 

"Strike — for your altars and your fires! 
Strike for the greeu graves of your sires, 
Ciod ! and your native land I "' 

We have souiilit infnnuatidii <>f the? Maple J^caf from 
many sources. We olttained 111 uch information from Mr. 
Joseph Wilson, (Uic of our oldest and most esteemed 
citizens, who fed the Confederate captors of the Ma- 
ple Loaf in the s\vani])s of Cnrritnck when they were 
pursued hy Federal cavalry; from Mrs. Henrietta 
Walker, a resident of Currituck County, a venerable 
and veritable book of chronicles of the war, whose 
husband, now dcNid, carried the captors across Cur- 
rituck Sound, and took care of them in the Curri- 
tuck swamps, and more rcM^Mitly from a communication 
by Ed. McHarney, who, when a boy of 17, with his 
brother and a com]-)anion, conveyed some of the Confede- 
rate captors in their boat to Yeopim C^reek in Perquim- 
ans County, and thence piloted them across Chowan river 
into the Confederate lines. 

A few days ag'O we were were looking over the contents 
of a recent publication — '"TZ/c Camp Fires of the Con- 
fedcniri/" — when we came across an article headed 
"Cajiture of the Maple Lcnif," written by Captain A. E. 
Asbury, of Ilii-oinsville, Missouri, who seems to have been 
one of the ca]i!ors ol' the Majile Leaf. He says that he 
M'ith twenty-five otlun- Confedei-ates were confined ]\y Ben. 
Butler in Fort Xorfolk, in a small room, on half -rations, 
half cooked and under g-reat suffering. There were 26 
of them in a room 12 by 30 which was used as cook-room, 
closet, hospital, bed-room and exercise. While panting 
there in this "Dark Hole of Calcutta" there came a Fed- 
eral Government transport ship — the "Maple Leaf" — 
bound for Fort Delaware with 75 Confederate officers, 
prisoners of war. Cai^ttain Asbury, with his 25 half- 
starved couirades, was imt ou board the transport for the 
same fort on the l:)th day of June, 18()3. Among the 



CAPTURE OF THE MAPLE LEAF. 265 

prisoners were Col. A. K. Witt, of an Arkansas Kegiment, 
and Lieutenant Senimes. They were cordially received 
by the prisoners, and at once passed out to sea by Fortress 
Monroe. The one hundred Confederate prisoners were 
guarded by about twenty United States soldiers. The 
prisoners were allowed free intercourse, being unarmed. 
They plotted to seize the vessel at the tap of the great bell 
at twilight. At the signal agreed on, every man, from his 
station, pounced upon his man, armed and unarmed, and 
a des])erate struggle for supremacy ensued, man to man, 
arm to ann, breast to breast. ''Freedom or death" was the 
slogan. The Federal guard was overpowered, and their 
anns taken. The Confederates armed themselves with 
the guns, sabers and pistols of the guards. Two Confed- 
erate officers broke into tlu^ cabin where was the com- 
mander and commanded him to surrender. He drew his 
sword to defend himself. The Confederates warned him 
of the danger of resistance as the boat was in their posses- 
sion. He gave up his sword. It was the work of about 
three minutes, and the ^la]ilo Leaf was under (^>nfed- 
erate command. Xo life had been taken and no gun had 
been fired. The gray uniform supplanted the blue. Colo- 
nel Witt took command. A council was held and it was 
detennined to (mi]ity and burn the vessel. But later, on 
account of the sick and disabled Confederates on board, it 
was determined to head her for the nearest beach. The 
Federal officers were ]')a rolled and sworn to proceed to Fort 
Delaware and give no notice of the capture. They also 
agreed to take care of the Confederate sick on board. A 
few Confederates stood guard over the Federal officers 
until the last Confederate was landed on the beach of the 
Currituck coast, near theVirginia and Carolina line, having 
taken with them all the arms and ammunition. Then with 
a yell and salute they surrendered the Maple Leaf. She 
headed for Fort Delaware, but soon turned back for Fort- 
ress Monroe, and before the next day the Federal Cavalry 
were scouring the Currituck swamps in search of the cap- 
tors of the Maple Leaf. 



266 grandfather's tales. 



HUMORS OF THE MAPLE LEAF. 

t5it Jike Ins grari.lsire. cut in alabaster? 

— Hamlet. 

dismnl'HnnV^''Vrf '' V ''!'^'' ^""^S' ^^ '^" ^^e dark and 
spelt somenvhat that way), the Frencli epiora.uatist who 
said that m the gTeatest niisfort.mes of our friends there 
was always soniethino. to con.forr us. Lt is so in the Cur 
ntnck episode of the "Maple Leaf." Since we struck 

Sstor:''"'?^"r'^^" ^" ^^^^ -^- ^f Confedl^te" ' 

i.I ^' T.t^^^■f.^• '^'^'^ ^^^ "^«^ ^^« «o™e bit of remin- 

scence of this br.lliant achievement in the annals of the 

cold, unsniilm.g type. And we were first drawn to it as 
a feather in the Albemarle's cap of war 

The High Sheriff of Camden County was a ^Swamp 

ab'ut ^rv'' -'T' '' '''' ^'^'^P^^ ^-f — --^tlno. 
Mo of h' J"^" "i '^' "'T'^' '^ Currituck and Camden. 
Most of his time he was hunting a buifaloe bull known .s 
Pete Burgess. While our "Swamp Fox" was scourin- 
the Camden swamps, he fell in with the Maple Leaf Coi> 
federate captors, and was introduced to Captain Semi-s 
who was coniinanding a squad of the captors. Captai.i 
Semms taught the Sheriff some new tricks in o.„onlla ^^^ r 
lare. He trained him in the bnck-step drill. This w,s 

s^ ftTooT fir"'"'^:,^^ '''^^'''^ ^^^°^^^^'^^^-d i^to a swamp, 
vJl .] ^ ^^^^'^^^'^lkmg out of it. The Sheriff dodged 
-t-ete that way, when not pursuing him 

most !!;ff''''!^'^'l'-'^'''' "" ^^•''' '''''' "^^^ «^ ^■""' "'W^^st an.l 

Coff J T 'l\'"''''^ *'^^^ ''''^'''^' t« t^« ^'^Ple Leaf 
Confederates in the swamps of Currituck when they were 
dodging the Yankee cavalry. He thinks now, as he 
thought then that^the Yankee cavalry did not reallv want 
to find ihe Confederate officers, because they would have 
had bloody work when thev found them 

Old man Abe Baum, of Currituck, with his long goosing- 



HUMORS OF THE MAPLE LEAF. 267 

iiip-^un -Old Betsy," took one of the yankee cavalry a priV 
onex- during the Maple Leaf affair, jl^^^^l";- 
evening, disai-med him at the pomt of ^'Old Betsy, kepi 
him all night, slept with the Yankee m hxs anns or se u- 
ritv all night, and next day took him across into the Ca,ii 
derate lines by a grape-vine route, delivered him mto 
the hands of the Confederate authorit.es and returned next 
day to pick up another Yanlvee by the aid ol Bets}. 

Dr Mcintosh was an old Doctor of Medicine, then liv- 
ing in Currituck. He lived near the public road. He 
was a good doctor, used to the technicahties of the lea ned 
profession, and called little things by big names For in- 
stance our old fashion abdominal ache, he would call ab- 
dom nalepigastritis," or something like. Long habit had 
leu him a linguistic vocabulary that was astounding, and 
he used it in hi:s ordinary conversation He was standing 
at his gate looking both ways for the Yankee cavalij 
They came up on his back, without his hearing them, as he 
was quite deaf. "Seen any of them dam Kebels, ole man ^ 
"Ko " said the Doctor. "Which is the way to Moyock ? 
said'thev. "Well," said the Doctor, "you pursue your 
circumambient way, and when y-.u get where the roacU 
bifurcate, take the rectangular and perhaps you ma, 
find it." 



^^^ GRANDFATHER'S TALES. 

WILLIAM b. ASHE. 

in facu 

— Hamlet. 



.nZtrni'tr.:;;^,'-,'™,:;;!.:,;;;.'"''"'- '- •-■',•: .„ ^^.^ 



otl^wf'^^T ^r '^'^"-' '^'"•^ ""= Jiscriminating editor 
wo shall seMo.n l„„k npor, liS^o-a^n ^^A? ! ''-^ ^"' 

1^ the people ef the southeastern counties ihan "?ill 

1 1 1 / -i.bue8 aeatn the more lieoansp li-irl lio i;,.^i 

tomution ot defeat and disaster and to bear the ill, tbaf 
I.«d overtaken them with resolution and fortltn e 

h,>ungmg from h.s stock, he naturally concerne.! hi, , 
il "^ P""'" ""'''*'-^ """^ ™»™d on a hi.h pTane of 
ac on. A, soon as be had received his license to practiC 

te.est m h,m by electing him County Solicitor in fou 
different counties; but he soon found a profe tonal life 

c^grr tL'dL'rir "' r;? 4 ^-'^^ ^ 

...0. and .as a%tL!;nd\turt''y;: tl^ p,S' 

St^te Senate at the same election. Although a stmrn-ttv 
>"«" ho was a profti-essi™ statesman, and fevoPed aP 
.noasui^s^that tended to the advancement of thrstl :'; 



WILLIAM S. ASHE. 269 

At a time when otliers shrank from such a great meats 
ure, he drew and introduced the bill to charter the North 
Carolina Railroad, appropriating two millions of dollars 
for that work. 

Taking his seat in Congress he at once became a mem- 
ber of influence, and indeed few men knew so well how to 
manage other men. 

Wishing to improve the Cape Fear River, he introduced 
a bill making an appropriation for that purpose. His 
party was in the majority in the House, but they were all 
opposed on principle to such appropriations. He pre- 
vailed on most of them to leave the Chamber and let the 
Whigs ])ass his bill. But when the vote was taken there 
was not a quorum ; so he had to call in some more Denio- 
crats — to vote against the bill — to get a (piorum iVn- its 
passage. 

His habit throughout his life was to retire at 9 o'clock, 
and to rise at 4. 

He attended to his correspondence and arranged the de- 
tails of his business for the day before breakfast. While 
others were taking their naps he was hard at Avork. He 
thus had a large part of the day at his own disposal, and 
had ample time to indulge in courtesies and pleasant inter- 
course so agreeable to him and so necessary if one proposes 
to wield a personal influence. 

Few men ingratiated themselves more than he into the 
hearty good-will of his associates — whether of his party 
faithi or otherwise. Even sucli Abolitionists as Garrei 
Smith had a warm spot in their hearts for him. He de- 
tested duplicity. Once when Dr. Shaw was being op- 
posed for Congress by Hon. W. N. H. Smith, Ashe went 
to see President Buchanan and told him that there was a 
report that he (Buchanan) luid writteu a certain letter 
about Kansas-Nebraska affairs that was damaging Dr. 
Shaw, and if he (;ou]d deny that, Dr. Shaw could be 
elected. The President told him to deny it. It tumetl 
out that Mr. Buchanan had written a letter similar to that 
alleged; and Mr. Ashe after that always refused to go 



270 grandfather's tales. 

into Mr. ]>iielianan's presence. He therefore did not at- 
tend at Chapel Hill when Old Buck and Jake Thompson 
and all the other Democratic brethren ^^ere there. 

After six years in Congress, he became President of 
the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, and under his ad- 
ministration that road became prosperous and paid good 
dividends. 

In its interests he went to Kngland and nuide a very 
advantageous arrangement in regard to its bonded debt. 
Pie addressed himself particularly to relieving travel of its 
tedium, and he built up a large Florida travel. He also 
esta])lishe(l regular steamboat connection between his road 
at Wilmington and New York; and when the jSTorth Caro- 
lina Railroad was finished, he arranged with Colonel 
Fisher, its President, to run through trains from Char- 
lotte to Wilmington. Thus in 1858 he gave practical 
effect to the measure he had introduced ten years before 
to haul the freights of Western Carolina to the sea and 
send them to the world from a J^orth Carolina port. 

In railroad circles he took rank as the best railroad presi- 
dent at the South ; and when the w^ar broke out President 
Davis asked him to take charge of all GovernuuMit trans- 
]:»ortation from east of the Mississippi to Virginia. This 
service, requiring such high administrative talent, he ren- 
dered for a year with signal ability ; but as his great desire 
was to be in the field, in the summer of 1862 the President 
authorized him to raise a legion of infantry, artillery and 
cavalry, to be commanded by himself. But he soon met 
an untimely death by an accident. He with some others 
bad started some salt-works at Wrightsville Sound. Re- 
turning from them one evening in September, 1862, he 
received infonnation that one of his sons — with Jackson's 
corps — had been taken prisoner. The other was also in 
Lee's army in Maryland. Much conceli-ned, he ]>rocured 
a hand-car to hasten home^ — some fifteen miles distant. 
( )u tlic way, aftx^r dark, a train without a headlight ran 
into the hand-car, and so wounded liini that he expired 
after three days of sufferinu'. 



THE CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 27 1 

THE CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. 
• O. fiction, where is thy blush." 

If written history be u fable, as Napoleon, the great 
maker of liistorv, said ; if TherniopyUe, one of history's 
great landmarks in the mists of time be but a fable born 
in a poet's fancy to illustrate his dream of self-sacrificing 
iieroism ; if Gettysljurg, yet fresh in living memory, be 
but a fictitious narrative to build up local reputation and 
give to one what is the property of another and to blow 
the bubble reputation away from the cannon's mouth, then 
the muse of history must change her garb of solemn black 
and be arrayed as a wanton, reckless of truth. 

I'he earliest I'ecord that wv renunuber of the ])ivotal l)at- 
tle of Gettysburg by a Southern writer is the narrative of 
Esten (Jooke, author of ''Surry of Eagle's iNest," in his 
Life of Gen. R. E. Lee. Mr. Cooke is a dramatic writer, 
fluent and florescent, but his style is that of a novelist 
rather than a historian. He soars on eagles' wings with 
gorgeous plumage. History wears the solemn garb of 
truth, which is its pole-star. 

Cooke follows a chronicler of the war who is notoriously 
untiiie, and who cut his cloth to suit the Virginia measure- 
ment — the notorious Pollard of the Richmond Enquirer. 

Colonel Walter Taylor follows Cooke, and this array of 
partial historians has given such plausibility to error that 
truth is much ])uzzled in their pursuit. 

But truth is a mighty combatant and will ultimately tri- 
umph over error in an open field and a fair fight. 

Pickett was a grand man, and needs not the tawdry 
tinsel of fiction to gild the immortal wreath of glory that 
crowns his gallant brow, and would scorn the attempt to 
snatch a lonf from the heroes who fought by his side and 
suffered more tlutn he in that fatal charge. Pickett did 
all that man could do in that bloody charge. And so did 
the heroic P(vttigr(nv. Pettigrew suffered more becaus-.-^ 
his was tin; laboring oar in the assignment of duty. Pickett 
commanded fresh troops. Pettigrew commanded troops 



272 grandfather's tales. 

llial had home tlic hruut of the second day's fight. Pet- 
tigrew was himself wounded on that second day. In tlie 
lengthening line of battle Pickett's position was half a 
mile nearer the Federal fortifications on Cemetery Eidge 
than Pettigrew's, and he was there because his troops were 
fresh, and had he succeeded in his charge the victory would 
have been won. But as it was, he was beaten before Petti- 
grew reached his point of attack, and when Pettigrew had 
stonned the Federal breastworks and was driving the 
artillery from their guns, Pickett had surrendered some 
of his regiments and was compelled to retreat in disorder, 
(^'ould Pickett have held his ground over theFederal breast- 
works for a half hour longer, PettigTew would have won 
the day, and Gettysburg would have still been one of the 
great pivotal battles of the world, and an adjustment of 
fraternal strife would have been made in thirty days. 

But as it was, Pickett's failure was in fact the beginning 
of the end. His retreat left Pettigrew's flank exposed to 
the fire of troops flushed with victory, and he was com- 
])elled to follow the example of Pickett when victory was 
smiling on him, with a loss of officers and men unparal- 
lelled in human warfare. 

This is our plain tale of Gettysburg, and the early 
chroniclers of its dramatic history have invested it with a 
halo of fiction that truth must ultimately dispel. 



MRS. WILLIP: JONES. 273 



MRS. WILLIE JONES. 

" God shares the gifts of head and heart, 
And crowns blest woman with a hero's part." 

Willie Jones^ of Halifax, was a conspicuous Whig 
Patriot of the Kevolution. He was a prominent member 
of all the Conventions of l^orth Carolina during the Eevo- 
lutionary period, and in all the debates of tliose Conven- 
tions he was the great tribune of the people and watched 
their interests. 

His wife was a woman of great refinement, vivacity and 
beauty, an active advocate of the Patriot cause, and on ail 
proper occasions asserted her convictions. 

The society of Halifax was the most cultured in the 
Colony and distinguished for its wealth and influence. 
It was also a political centre. Its leading citizens were 
gentlemen of eminence in social, civil and professional 
life. Although political feeling ran high there was a 
pleasant social intercourse between all shades of political 
opinion, and sometimes it extended to the otiicers of tlio 
British amiy who were in occupancy of the town, or were 
there on parol. 

The family of Willie Jones were society people, his 
daughters were pretty and attractive, and the asperities of 
war were softened by the amenities of social festivity. This 
was peculiarly the case in the society of Halifax. Some 
of tlie officers in the British army had lived in Halifax 
])rior tO' the war, had espoused the Royal cause, were popu- 
lar in their old home, and still, to some extent, maintained 
their old relations with their old townspeople. This had 
the effect to narrow the bloody chasm and introduce a 
more tolerant social feeling than in some other parts of the 
Colony. 

In this way the adherents of royalty and the Patriots 

were occasionally brought in social contact. On one of 

these occasions, at the hospitable home of Willie Jones, 

the celebrated British officer Tarleton and Mrs. Jones were 

18 



274 grandfather's tales. 

in pleasant conversation relatino^ to the war, and in the 
course of conversation it fell into a strain of playful badi- 
nage. 

Col. William Washington was a Whig Patriot that Mrs. 
Jones greatly admired and she spoke of him in conversa- 
tion Avith Tarleton in high terms. Tarleton had received 
a sabre wound from Colonel Washington, in his arm, when 
he was on the retreat from the battle of the Cowpens in 
South Carolina, and he was disabled from it at that time. 
He said, in conversation with Mrs. Jones that he would 
like to see Colonel Washington, that he had heard- him 
s])()kon of as a litth^ diminutive fellow. Mrs. Jones re- 
])lied (iui('kl\- : ''Yon miiiht have seen him, Colonel, if you 
had looked ovci- yo\ir shoulder at the battle of the Cow- 
pens." Tarleton bore the retort with calm politeness and 
silence. When the conversation was resumed, it turned 
again upon Colonel Washington. Tarleton said sneer- 
ingly that Colonel Washington Avas an ignorant fellow and 
could not write his name. Mrs. Jones replied, at once* 
'"Colonel Washington can at least make his mark, as your 
arm shows." Tarleton withdrew. 

]\Irs. Willie Jones was the daughter of Colonel Mont- 
fort, and was a fit companion of her illustrious husband. 
It was our good fortune, when a boy to know well and be 
under the kind care of two of the daughters of Mrs. Jones 
— Mrs. Joseph B. Littlejohn, of Oxford, and Mrs. Burton, 
wife of Governor Hutchins G. Burton, of Raleigh. Both 
of them were models of every womanly virtue — pious, 
kind, gentle, sympathizing 

We once heard that Willie Jones, the Revolutionary Pa- 
ti-iot and statesman, became imbecile in his old age, and 
tliat his mental weakness was shown in his anxiety to do 
no hami to any litnnan creature. W^licn he walked out on 
the ground he always swept before him Avith a broom lest 
he might step upon an ant. We have never seen it con- 
firmed. 

Feminine heroism is a cons]iicnous thread running 
tlirougli all Avar, especially those Avaged in defence of home 



RALEIGH. 277 

and eountrv. Thoy ^\■('l•(' (•(ins])ieii(nis in onr war of Inde- 
pendence, and in rlic \\-ai' of lS(il-lSG5, iSTortli Caro- 
lina's danghters made sacrifices and nndenvent snffering 
in defence of their homes that entitle them to the admira- 
tion and everlasting gratitnde of their conntrymen. 



RALEIGH. 



O Raleigh! noble namesake of a rnan of fairest fame. 

— Miss Curtis. 

As A GENERAL rnlc great events, great nations, great 
men have been the frnitage of great tribulations. They 
have been nurtured to greatness by the discipline of 
adversity. It is the ordering of a wise but mysterious 
Providence that sturdy loins should be girded and strength- 
ened by opposition. According to this theory of the work- 
ings of Divine Providence, Raleigh, in the cycles of time i& 
destined to be a great city, the busy centre of active trade, 
the moulder of pul)lic sentiment, the seat of empire, of let- 
ters, learning and art and the Ikhiu' <d' the greatest and 
best of men. 

When, ill tlic early history of iNTorth Carolina it be- 
came ne^cessary to estal)lish a permanent seat of govern- 
ment for the State, a legislature of the peo|)le, sitting m 
Tarboro, requested the people to instruct their delegates 
to '^fix on the ]^lace for the unalterable seat of govern- 
ment." At a convention in Fayetteville in 1789 an at- 
tempt was made to carry into effect the plan of locating 
the seat of government, l)nt it was lost bj one vote. It 
produced rivalry between the leading towns in the State. 
The western counties favored Fayetteville ; and Edenton^ 
Kew Bern and Wilmington had a following. Edenton 
had been the seat of govcriniKMit, "JSIew Bern had succeeded 
Edenton l)v (linloniacy, and sessions of the Assembly had 
been held in Wilniinutoii and Fayetteville. Among these 



278 grandfather's tales. 

eonteiidiiii>- aspirants the business of the State was an am- 
buhitory g-overnnient and tlie papers of the government 
were moved about, sometimes in one place and then to an- 
other, at great trouble, expense and loss. The State was 
miserably divided bv contending factions and divergent 
centers of trade. 

Finally, driven by necessity, the Assembly, after angry 
contentions, appointed a committee to select a permanent 
seat of government. The committee regarded the matter 
geographically, and discarding the relative advantages of 
trade they determined tO' consider the public convenience 
and to select the seat of government with reference to its 
central location and accessibility. 

After much log-rolling the site was selected in Wake 
County. x\t that period the advantages of navigation 
were a prime object of consideration and the selection of 
a place on a navigable stream was greatly desired. Strange 
as it now seems, the site of the seat of government 
was selected on Isaac Hunter's farm in Wake County, 
mainly because it was near JSTeuse River ; the seat of gov- 
ermncnt would l)e a port of entry and ships laden with for- 
eign goods could l)e landed at her wharves and "jack tars" 
could be seen swaggering on her streets. This idea capti- 
vated the sound counties on Albemarle and Pamlico and 
secured the present site of Raleigh as the permanent seat. 
by a very small majority. Stranger, perhaps, is the fact 
that Hamilton Fulton, a distinguished Scotch engineer in 
the emph)yment of the State, some years after, gave it as 
his opinion that Raleigli could be connected directly with 
the ocean by a system of locks and dams. 

In the selection of the capital of the State, the town of 
Fayetteville felt most aggrieved. It had a growing trade 
with many of the western counties of the State. It was at 
the head of navigation of the Cape Fear River. Many of 
the most distinguished citizens of the westeni part of the 
State favored Fayetteville and protested in public meetings 
against the selection of another place. Fayetteville was 
probably the most progressive town in the State and it had 



RALEIGH. 279 

received bounties from the General Assembly at various 
times. It Avas evidently at that time the pet of the State. 

The next step after the selection of a site was the inaug- 
uration of the new capital. 

^N^ine Commissioners, representing the nine judicial dis- 
tricts of the State, were appointed to inaugurate the State 
capital and $20,000 appropriated by the General Assem- 
bly to build a "State House" to accommodate the public 
business of tlie State. This was in March, 1792. The 
Commissioners laid off the future city of Raleigh. It 
was a town of "magnificent distances," of unsightly bram- 
ble bush and briars, of hills and morasses, of grand old 
oaks, with no inhabitants and an "onwelcome look" to new 
comers (to recall an anecdote of Governor Vance). The 
Assembly soon made the State officers come to Raleigh Lo 
live, but for some time the Governors evaded the law and 
wouldn't come and stay in the woods. But as it grew and 
grew and its social status improved, the Governor came, 
and then some prominent men from other parts of the 
State and their families, and the town of IsTeuse began to 
hold up its head with the leading towns of the State. 

But the unexpected oftenest happens and misfortunes 
oft are blessings in disguise. 

On the 21st of June, 1831, soon after breakfast, the citi- 
zens of Raleigh were startled by the cry of "Fire !" Smok? 
was seen issuing from the top of the "State House," it 
was soon found that the roof of the building was on fire. 
There was no fire department and the efforts to extinguish 
the flames were unavailing. There was great destruc- 
tion of public property. The statue of Washington which 
adorned the rotunda of the capitol, the cJief d' ouvre of 
Canova, was crushed by the falling timbers and was in 
ruins, the archives of the government were, many of 
them, destroyed and Raleigh was in mourning. 

Misfortunes, it is said, come in clusters. 'Twas so 
with Raleigh. The capitol building was destroyed. A 
new State House had to be built. If not rebuilt in Ra- 
leigh that town, now taking on the habiliments of eminent 
respectability, would lose its heritage. 



28o grandfather's talks 

Fayetteville was ambitions; had a distinguislied and 
influential body of citizens ; was still the great mart of 
trade from western North Carolina ; was identified wdth it 
by commercial and social relations, and the antagonist 
sectional feeling between the eastern and western sections 
of the State had grown in strength since its origin in the 
selection of Raleigh as the seat of government forty years 
before. So this was Fayetteville's opportunity. 

The General Assembly was to meet in the ensuing win- 
ter, and it was known that the rebuilding of the State 
Capitol would be the most prominent question for legisla- 
tive consideration. 

Fayetteville, at an early day, had put in nomination as 
it,s l>orough representative Louis D. Henry, its most dis- 
tinguished citizen. Ivaleigh, seeing the object of thi.^ 
dangerous step, and fearing a combination of western 
North Carolina with Fayetteville to accomplish the re- 
moval of the capital to Fayetteville, looked over the State 
to find a member of the Assembly who could meet Henry 
in debate. They put themselves in communication with 
William (raston. There was a vacancy in the borough 
representation from New Bern, by the death of the lately- 
elected member, and they induced Mr. Gaston to be a can- 
didate for the place. He was elected just before the meet- 
ing of the Assembly by one vote. His arrival in Raleigh 
was announced by tlu^ firing of cannon. He took his seat 
and the 'Sippropriation bill" for the rebuilding of the 
capitol was introduced at an early date. It was intro- 
(1u('(m1 in the House of Commons by Wm. H, Haywood, 
llic young number from Wake County. Gaston and 
Henry were the acknowledged champions of Raleigh and 
Fayetteville. Both of them made able speeches to a full 
house and a crowded gallery. Gaston spoke first, Henry 
re]ilied and Gastrin rejoined. The interest Avas intense. 
We had the good fortune to be present as a boy. Gaston's 
second speech was the finest effort that the parliamentary 
history of North Carolina affords. It saved the fate of 
Raleigh and gave it its subsequent proud career as tho 
permanent capital of the State. 



f 






i 



I'-'f-f 



■ ■"'""•i iy 



Confederate Motiument, 
On Capitol Square, Raleigh. 



AMONG CURRITUCK DUCKS AND DUCKERS. 283 

AMONG CURRITUCK DUCKS AND DUCKERS. 
Quack I Quack! Quack! 

We now regard ourself as better posted in all the learn- 
ing of shooting and wild fowl than any man in North Car- 
olina not a "native" ducker and "to the manor born." We 
know all about geese and swan, and can tell, to a nicety^ 
the difference between a "Black Duck" and a "Wigeon,'' 
between a "Wigeon" and a "Si3rig Tail," between a "Sprig 
Tail" and a "teal," between a "Teal" and a "Peter," be- 
tween a "Peter" and a "Mallard," between a "Mallard" 
and a "Red Head," and between a "Red Head" and a 
"Canvass Back," that head of the family, joy of the gour- 
mand and duck of ducks. Red heads and canvass backs 
are the aristocracy of tlie family. They closely resembls 
in appearance and in taste, but the canvass back feeds 
on the water celery, bears a higher market price and a 
better name, and "names are things" among ducks as 
among men. All the others are known as "common ducks.'' 
The present season has been a ducker's paradise, and the 
9th of December was tlie climax of his happiness. The 
weather opened earlv and has been of unprecedented se- 
verity, and game, consequently, has been more abundant 
than for many years. Sport and profit have gone hand 
in hand. Dunton and Walker, of Vanslyck's Landing, 
are probably tlie best shots and have done the most profit- 
able shooting in the "goose honk country" of Currituck 
Sound. They are young men, with the healthy, hearty, 
alert bearing that close contact with nature in her rough 
wildness always gives. Wiley and Alma Midyett, who 
shoot together, had killed and sold $600 worth of wild 
fowl up to last week of the present season. Josephus 
Baum, who lives at the headquarters of "Currituck Shoot- 
ing Chib," killed on the 0th of December, 120 ducks, 30 
geese and 3 swan. This is the best day's shooting of the 
season. Josephus is a veteran a,mong the three-scores, 
but solid as a boat hook, and has probably sent more ducks 



2^4 grandfather's tales. 

to thoir long account than an.y man among the living. Oa 
the same day John Dimond, of ^^ew York, a member of 
Currituck bhootmg Club," killed 107 ducks and 3 geeso 
On the same daj, iSTewton Dexter, of Providence, Rhod.^ 
Island, bagged 26 swan, 25 geese and over 50 ducks, with 
a 10-boro gun. On the same day, Stratton Berrety, of 
Jxhode Island, a member of "Currituck Shooting Club " 
and who ranks A Xo. 1 in the club, killed 80 ducks besides 
other g^me. Ihis is all tall shooting, hut it's true as ifs 
tail, lie sportsmen, both native and foreign, are well 
provided M-ith all the appliances for success, and "Stool 
^.t'i ". V 'f '^^att^^-ies" and "Breech-Loaders" and 
-blinds form part of their equipments. Those who sho:t 
mm l)at.teries are most successful. They shoot in pair.^ 
One lays in the battery, flat of his back, wiUi his "stools"' 
around him, and as the wild fowl hover over the stools he 
rises and fires into them. His partner lays off to wind- 
ward m a bo^it, and picks up the dead game floating ou 
tke water. Die battery fellow, on his back, lias the har J 
DertJi, i)ut we suppose they "turn and turn about." 

tonnerly Cun-ituck Sound had only a local habitation 
and a name lor its game fowl, but the opening and use of 
t]ie Albemar e and Chesapeake Canal has introduced it 
to the outside Avorld and made it a favorite resort of 
amateiir sportsmen, and nearly every locality has now it^ 
<.iul). Many notabilities from abroad, members of the 
various clubs are familiar names to the native sportsman, 
.huigo lufl^, from near Boston, President of "Monkev Is- 
Jnn<l ( lul), IS favorably and kindly spoken of. Gordon 
jM'unct who luis recently been shooting at lar<>er "-ame is 
a memb,.,- of -Light House Club." He did\iot''make a 
n;_ime as a sliot, m Currituck, but there lingers a memory 
of his lavish use of money. Emorv, of ]S^gw York, Strat- 
ton Berrety, of Long Island, and Jack Dimond, all we 
believe, members of "Currituck Shootiuii- Clul) " are con- 
sidered the best shots from abroad. Lawrence Jerome of 
Aew York, a member, we think, of "Crow Island Club," 
is accorded the place of the humorist and funnv man of 



AMONG CURRITUCK DUCKS AND DUCKKRS. 285 

the club, a ])osition so jealous that no other distinction is 
ever attained by its occupant. Captain Palmer, of Bos- 
ton, is often mentioned bj the natives as a green old vet- 
eran of 75 years, whose migrations to Currituck Sound 
were as regular as the foAvl, and who for many years has 
come like a goose and goes when they go. He loves the 
sport, they say, and slio^vs a boy's enthusiasm in its enjoy- 
ment. 

We must not, however, further display our learning in 
the intricate and mysterious profundities of duckologj ; 
ho^\' they come, when they come, whence thej come, tli<^ 
differing notes of a duck's "quack," each after his kind^ 
the different meaning of each intonation of a goose's 
"honk," and the long-drawn, rattling, crackling note of 
the deep-throated swan. 



286 grandfather's tales. 



BATTLE OF SAWYER'S LANE. 

"The foe himself recoiled aghast, 
When, striking where he strongest lay, 
We swooped his flanks tliroughout the fray, 
And braving full their murderous rain, 
We won the day at Sawyer's Lane." 

The battle near South Mills, in Camden County, 
JS". C, was fought on the 19th of April, 1862, and was a 
signal victory for the Confederates. The Federal forces 
W'Cre commanded by General Reno and Colonel Hawkins. 
They came up from Roanoke Island, which was captured 
on the 8tli of February, and landed at Chantilly, on lower 
Pasquotank River, on the night of the I7th of April. 
Their landing at Chantilly spread throughout the county, 
and very soon their destination for the village of South 
Mills in upper Camden became known. 

On the morning of the 18th they commenced their 
march through Camden County. There were no Confed- 
erate troops in the county, as the active fighting men were 
with the army in Virginia. The Federal army under 
General Reno was left to make their march to South Mills 
unmolested. 

A Georgia regiment commanded by Colonel Wright had 
their headquarters at South Mills, but when the new.^ 
carhe of the invasion of the Federal troops they were scat 
tered over the country from Elizabeth City to South Mills 
watching the movements of the enemy, who held posse-? - 
sion of Elizabeth City by gtmboats after the bombard- 
ment on the 8th of February, Colonel Wright collected 
them as fast as he could, and Colonel Ferebee, who was 
at liome, called out the Camden militia, and they deter 
mined to make a stand at Sawyer's Lane and make prep;!- 
ratious for an engagement. 

Ateanwhile, (ioncviil Reno was marching leisurely from 
Chantilly to Soutli Mills, arresting some of the most con- 
spicuous citizens who were in sympathy with their homes, 
and establisliing intimacy and confidence with the buffa- 
loes wild made tlioir headquarters at "Old Trap." 



THE BATTLE OF SAWYER'S LANE. 287 

Thej committed some depredations and used the torch 
to some extent. 

An incident is mentioned in connection with theii' 
march through Camden which illustrates the fidelity of the 
Masonic tie. The order had been given to fire the house 
of a man who was obnoxious on account of his Southern 
sympathy. He was allowed to remove his pro^Derty fron\ 
the house, and in taking out the property he was observed 
to attach A^alue to an apron which he was taking out. The 
Federal officer enquired of him what it was. He replied 
that it was a Masonic apron which belonged to him as a 
member of the Masonic Lodge. The officer was a Mason, 
and he ordered the house to be spared and the property 
not to be disturbed. 

When they reached Sawyer's Lane on the morning of 
the 19th, Colonel Wright, with about 500 of his regiment 
and some of the Camden militia, were in line on the west 
side of the Lane. A large ditch intervened. Colonel 
Wright ordered it to be filled with old rails and brush and 
fired so as to be an obstruction to the Federal forces. The 
smoke of the burning brush prevented their approach and 
obstructed the steadiness of their fire. Notwithstanding 
this obstruction, a deadly rifle engagement was kept up 
during the day. Towards evening there was an arrival of 
Confederate troops on the opposite side of the canal. 
When they came near they broke out in a hideous yell that 
so frightened and demoralized the Federal troops that 
they were struck with panic and commenced to fall bad-:. 
This increased the disorder, and soon the whole JSTortherTi 
army was in retreat in great disorder. It was a second 
"Bull Run" l)efore they reached Chantilly, where they 
had landed two days before. 

The old citizens of Camden give graphic accounts of 
the wild retreat of the Federal troops on their return from 
Sawyer's Lane to Chantilly, in contrast with their march 
from Chantilly to the battlefield. The march throug'i 
Camden County was orderly and witi| the pomp of as- 
sured victoiy. The return was a '"^vi^ vil-take-the-hind- 

V 

I 

\ 



288 grandfather's tales. 

most" retreat. The road was strewn with abandoned hav- 
ersacks, muskets and canteens, and when the Federal sol- 
diers stopped at the houses by the wayside to beg a hasty 
bite of something, they looked famished and haggard ; 
and while they swallowed their half-chewed food they kept 
one eye on the watch westward, whence they were fleeing. 
They would sometimes eagerly ask if the "Rebels" were 
coming, and how much farther it was to Chantilly. 

In the engagement at Sawyer's Lane the Confederate 
loss was three killed and several wounded. The Federal 
loss was between sixty and seventy. Twenty-three bodies 
were removed from one ]:)it in whicli tliey were buried and 
another pit contained more bodies. 

The result of the fight was a complete rout, although 
it is claimed by Federal r(^])orrs that it was a retreat in 
good order. They took some ih'Isoiuts with tliom to Chan- 
tilly, and all the pi'isoncrs (Icscribc the retreat as a rout 
and a panic. 

The success of the battle was due to the strategy of 
Col. A. M. Wright, of the Third Georgia Regiment, and 
■its final disaster and panic was due to a vigorous Rebel 
veil from the throats of new recruits. 



COL. WILLIAM L. SAUNDERS. 289 



COL. WILLIAM L. SAUNDERS. 

Full many a Hovv'r is born to blush unseen 

— Gray. 

ISTo MA^T who lias lived in Xortli Carolina has rendered 
more faithful sei'vice or been inspired by a more ardent 
patriotism than Col. William L. Saunders. He was a 
loving son of the State in every hbre and tissne of his con- 
stitution. He has left a record of his service both with 
pen and sword. He gave his blood to iSTorth Carolina in 
the defence of his home when it was invaded in the civil 
strife which crimsoned her sacred soil with fraternal 
blood ; and when peace came and spread her blessed wings 
over a land that Avas made desolate by the loss of her sons 
and her treasures, (Jolonel Saunders, in impaired healtl", 
laid d(_)wn his sword and took up his pen, and the work of 
his pen was of more signal benefit to his Statf than all her 
marshalled battalions on the tented field. 

Xo man can read "Saunders' Colonial Records and 
Prefatory Notes" without rising from its perusal a better 
informed man in the annals of his country, and every 
IS'ortli Carolinian Avill feel prouder of his heritage of glory. 
It is worth all the histories of the State that have ever 
been penned by its most illustrious sons. The "Prefa- 
tory ITotes" are a marvel of lucid historical style, accuracy 
and ability, written in a ])lain and unostentatious narra- 
tive. 

Governor Jarvis once told us that "Bill Saunders" was 
the wisest man in ISTorth Carolina, and could give you the 
most sensible opinion upon any subject you might put to 
him of any man he had ever known, especially if you gave 
him time to whistle some snatches of an old familiar tunc; 
and Governor Jarvis is a shrewd observer of men. The 
State of North Carolina is under a debt of gratitude to 
William .l.,awrence Saunders that it can never fully re- 
pay. His monument should stand by that of Zebulon E, 



19 



290 grandfather's tales. 

Vance in the Capitol grounds at Raleigh, as a lesson of 
virtue, heroism and devotion to our grand old mother State. 

William L. Saunders was born in Raleigli about the 
year 1838. His parents were Rev. Joseph H. Saunders 
and his wife Laura Baker Saunders, both, the speci- 
mens of intellectual and moral manhood. His mother 
was a gem of womanliood, kind, affectionate and true lO 
every relation of life. His maternal grandfatlier was Dr 
Simmons J. Baker, a gentleman of the old school, a worthy 
representative of tlie best Halifax blood, and the last man 
in Nortli Carolina that wore an old-time gentleman's cue. 
The father of Colonel Saunders was a devout Christian 
minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He wao 
of sturdy intellectual mould and his fondness for antiqua- 
rian lore was as conspicuous in him as in his more distin- 
gii ished son. 

Raleigh was the home of Colonel Saunders for the 
greater part of his life. He entered the Confederate ser- 
vice M'hen the State joined its seceding sisters. He soon 
rose to the command of a regiment, and his bravery was 
conspicuous in the war, to its end. 

After the war he settled in Wilmington, In the troub- 
lous times of the reconstruction period he was prominent 
in every act for the protection of the people of the State. 
There were some irregular acts of retaliation to counteract 
the oppressive conduct of the "Union Leagues," and he 
was suspected of complicity in those acts, was arrested and 
arraigned for trial before a Congressional investigating 
committee. He was subjected to a rigid examination on 
the witness stand by that committee He shrank not be- 
fore that severe ordeal. When he was examined as to his 
complicity, and that of his friends, he answered never a 
word to betray them or criminate himself. To every in- 
genious device to extort a confession from him, he was 
dumb. In the face of great peril he maintained an obsti- 
nate silence, and he finally triumphed over his enemies. 
Saunders was a nut they could not crack. 



WINSTON-SAI^EM. 29 1 

WINSTON -SALEM. 
" Like two twin cherries hanging on a parent stem." 

Tobacco is so potent a factor in the history of plants, 
it has had so much to do with the commerce of modern 
civilization, it has been the builder of such great towns, 
and it is so identified with the early history of North Caro- 
lina, having been first introduced to the English-speaking 
race, and probably to the world, from Roanoke Island, 
and having been first introduced to polite society in the 
Court circles of London as a social accomplishment by 
that grand sentinel at the gateway of our history, Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh — that it has a just claim to recognition in any 
work relating to JSTorth Carolina annals. 

Amadas and Barlowe, on their return to England from 
Their explorations in America in 1584, brought to Sir Wal- 
ter, as a memorial of their voyage, from the island in Amer- 
ica where they landed, specimens of sun-cured tobacco, 
which the aboriginal race that they had found, used upon 
ceremonial and social occasions as symbols of peace ani 
friendship. They smoked tobacco in their calumets of 
]>eace, when the arrow and battle-axe were laid aside. 

A little incident is mentioned of Sir Walter, that after he 
had received the tobacco and pipe from Amadas, he went 
into the augTist presence of Queen Bess smoking his hug? 
calumet, and it does not appear that he said — "Is smoke 
offensive to your Majesty ?" As the smoke rolled in vol- 
umes from his mouth and nostrils, the Queen became 
alarmed for her favorite courtier, and seizing a bucket 
of water, dashed it over him to extinguish the fire that 
was burning within him. 

In Winston-Salem two centuries clasp hands. Salem 
is an old Moravian town, gray with age, laurel-crowned 
with its achievements, conscious of its dignity, and march- 
ing slowly on with measured steps in its career of im- 
provement, altogether unmindful of its sturdy young 
1)rother who has sprung up in a night by its side, and is 



292 grandfather's tales. 

niakino' giant strides beside it with its coat off and its 
sleeves rolled up, and heavy bead-drops on its earnest brow. 
It bears no moss on its proud and lofty crown, but instead, 
it has a pipe in its moutli and the aromatic tobacco juice 
stains its once spotle^ss sliirt front. 

Thus, in juxtaposition, separated only by a narrow- 
street, these two representatives of the present and the- 
past generations are almost one in location, but are widely 
separated in manners, habits, customs and individuality. 
Its line of separation is as distinct as the channel of the 
Gulf Stream. They are under separate organizations of 
government. One has an eye turned askance at the unripe 
tobacco plant that grows so lustily by its side, without the 
social crown of ancestral dignity, and tlie other an eye of 
pity at the decrepit old grandsire that totters on its staff 
and ean not keep step with the surging tide in the march 
of life. But there is no clash of contending factions be- 
tween tlieni. Xo angry surge of rivalry disturbs their 
harmony, l)ut each keeps on the tenor of its way, one by 
bounds like a giant to run its course, the other with the 
dignity and slowness so becoming to nobility that is con- 
scious of its lofty pedestal and disdains to enter the lists 
with a stripling in sliirt-sloeves and short pants. 

But each of these twin towns is great in its way. Be- 
fore AVinston was l)orn, or had cleared the briars out of 
tbe way for its first rude settlement, Salem was an old 
and ])rogr(ssive town, with its schools and churches and 
factories, and with its refined and devout colony of steady 
]\roravians who had left their homes in Saxony, and found 
among the mountains of Xorth Carolina a ^dace of safety, 
wliere th( y could worship God according to tlie dictates 
of their own conscience. Thev found tliis asylum at 
]>ethabara, in Western N^orth Carolina, six miles nortJi 
of the present town of Salem. This was about the year 
1700. There they i)itclied tlieir tents. They were holy 
num (if CJod. They had with them their ministers in 
holy things, who ]n"eserved their sacred tenets. Here they 
buried their dead, with their uniform memorial tablets. 



WINSTON-SALKxM. 2g^ 

Here tliey worshipped God, first in temples not built witli 
liands, later in sanctuaries consecrated to His service. 
Regarding education as the handmaid of religion, they next 
established a school for girls, Avhich, under the guidancG 
of Di^'ine Providence, has been a gushing fountain of 
lilessing to generations. Venerable in age, it is the Alma 
Mater of a long line of distinguished graduates, who turn 
to it in love, veneration and gratitude. 

f^uiet as Salem is, it is not asleep. The hum of indus- 
try is heard on every hand, in cotton, woollen, flour, iron 
and water-works. It is lighted by electricity, has no sa- 
loons, and is sustained by a prosperous agricultural back- 
country. It is a model of ])ropriety, morality and virtue. 

Winston is the great centre of the tobacco industry of 
tlie United States, and claims to be the most progTessive 
town in jSTorth Carolina. It is a creature of vesterday, 
lint it has its factories of various kinds, its big men, its 
pu])lic enterprises, its associations of every kind, its electric 
lights, its water -works, its institutions of learning and ed- 
ucation, and its grand public spirit and pride of place. 
It lives in an atmosphere of tobacco. Everybody smokes, 
everybody chews, and tobacco is the talk of the town. It 
has its tobacco factories, its tobacco warehouses, and its 
tobacco "breaks."' 

We were once in Winston, and attended a "tobacco 
l)roak''. It was a new revelation to us. Immense crowds 
were in attendance; the auctioneer was stript to the belt 
and ready for the fray. It was a new, wild scene to U3. 
We had been at corn-shuckings, corn-hillings, oyster roasts, 
camp-meetings, revival meetings, and all sorts of convivial 
gatherings, but never before had we seen such a scene. Lit- 
tle piles of gold-leaf tobacco were everywliere on the floor 
and everybody was feeling and smelling of them. The auc- 
tioneer was going rapidly from place to place, a large 
crowd following him and eagerly bidding. We were pass- 
ing about with the maddi]i<4- crowd, accompanied by our 
friend and press-brother, John D. Cameron, a citizen of 
Asheville, a lover of tobacco and familiar with all the 



294 grandfather's tales. 

ways of the tobacco trade. He was smelling and feeling, 
and we, to be in fashion, were feeling and smelling. Ho 
was descantina: to us of the value of a certain brand, feel 
ing as he talked. We reached out our gloved hand to ma- 
nipulate the soft leaf. 

You have probably, when a boy, put a live coal of fire 
on the back of a big tomato worm to enjoy his squirms 
and wriggles in the death agony. Cameron was like that 
worm. With an exclamation of horror, he drew around 
us a crowd of spectators to sec a man who had the hardi- 
hood to handle a leaf of tobacco with a gloved hand! And 
they gazed at us as they would at a cannibal savage from 
Timbuctoo. We loved old Cameron then, and treasure his 
memory now, but we always thought he never thought so 
well of us after committing the unpardonable sin of hand- 
ling a tobacco leaf with a kid-gloved hand I 



THE INVASION OF THE CARPET-BAGGER. 295 

THE INVASION OF THE CARPET-BAGGER. 
" The Goths overran Rome." 

To MANY persons it may be an incomprehensible mys- 
tery how the State of iNTorth Carolina, with more than a 
million of people within its bounds, many of them dis- 
tin^iished by eminent statesmanship, ability and patriot- 
ism, by great sagacity, forecast and influence over opin- 
ions, and a strong hold upon the affections and confidence 
of the people^ — how the State of JSTorth Carolina, thus for- 
tified, and with the ballot in her hands, could have been 
successfully invaded by a horde of hungry carpet-baggers, 
who by a combination with her unnatural sons, subjugated 
her to their power, and despoiled and humiliated her. It 
is not only a political, but a philosophic and historical 
question. Many would now suppose that the question 
itself would have roused the fury of the people, that the 
double odium of the disgraceful alliance would have con ■ 
signed the guilty parties in the paricidal compact to aii 
eternal political and social infamy from which there couil 
be no resurrection, and that one universal shout of exe- 
cration, "louder than the loud ocean," would have risen 
from mountain top to ocean shore, and driven the miscre- 
ants howling from the land. But those who think so have 
forgotten the history of the times or the manifestations of 
the human mind under peculiar circumstances. Thers 
is a stupor which sometimes precedes death. There is a 
stupor which often succeeds defeat. There is a stupor 
which generally attends despair. Such was our condition. 
Rather, we were in the stupified condition of the triple 
combination. The black pall of mourning brooded and 
hung over tlie State, the funeral pall for those to whom W3 
were wont to turn in our hour of doubting and distres?" 
and to whom we never turned in vain. We had been 
utterly overthrown by the united powers of the world and 
we seemed, for the time, almost annihilated and utterl/ 



296 grandfather's tales. 

crushed out from the pale of earthly sympathy and recog- 
nition. Despair, which makcth the heart sick, was upon 
us. That despair, twin sister of desperation, was within 
our bosom. The ''slough of despond" was upon us. North 
Carolina, riven by the thunderbolt of war, stood lik^ 
Rachel weeping for her children and would not be com- 
forted because they were not. She turned in her despair 
to her Fishers, her Stokes, her Fenders, her Pettigrews, 
her Branches, her Andersons and her Shaws. They yvece 
all dead. Turning from the dead to the living, she called 
to her Grahams, her Outlaws, her Braggs, her Barringers, 
her Moores, her Raiisoms, her Clingmans, her Ashes, her 
AVarrens, her Carters, her Martins, her Gilliams and her 
Speeds. They were ])owerless. Then, writhing in the 
frenzied agony of a moment's desperate determination, 
she turned to her lioldcns, her Pools, her Caldwells, her 
Pearsons, lier Dicks, her Settles and her Sam. Phillips, 
and 1(1 1 they had joined the carpet-bagging vulture birds 
and were driving th(ur beaks into her bowels. Then it was, 
that, uttering a cry of des]>air that pierced the heavens, sbe 
veiled her face in slminc and fell like Caesar at the base 
of Pompey's statue, for Jo! shame! she had called in her 
a<i"ony unto her rccrcfud sons. 



JAMES C. DOBBIN. 297 



JAMES C. DOBBIN. 

He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust. 

— Macbeth. 

A iSToRTH Caroli^nta book would be imperfect without 
a reference to the character and career of James O. Dob- 
bin, of Fayetteville. He was the friend of our youth, and 
as a boy he was an example of every manly and gentle 
characteristic, and won to him, as no other did, the admi- 
ration and love of his comiDanions. His smile was a ben- 
ediction, his laugh was a murmuring ripple that never 
overflowed its l)anks into the semblance of loud laughter, 
and sincerity was graven on every lineament of his face. 
If he had had no other qualities than those that belonged 
to his gentle and kindly nature, he would have been a 
signal success in life. But his head was a dome of thought. 
It w^as like an inverted pyramid, and would have made a 
phrenologist leap for joy. 

We once heard old Dr. Caldwell, the distinguished Pres- 
ident of the University, say that he had no cliildren and 
that he did not regret it, but if he had such a son as Dobbin, 
he would rejoice. And he was not a man who dealt in 
comidiments. 

James C. Dobbin graduated at the University in 1832, 
in tlu' famous class that was led by Clingman and Tom 
Aslie. He stood in the front rank at graduation, but as 
a lovable man he was easily first. 

After leaving the University he returned to his home in 
Fayetteville, and entered ujwn the study of that profession, 
"ancient as magistracy, noble as virtue, necessary as jus- 
tice" ; but his charming personality, his positive convic- 
tions of ]:»ublic policy, and his intellectual gifts, made him 
an available candidate for public office. He was a Dem- 
ocrat, and his party friends, when he was a young man, 
put him in nomination for the General Assembly from the 
county of Cumberland. 

He was elected. He soon ac(piired an influential po- 



298 grandfather's tales. 

sition in the Legislature, and was an active participant in 
its important debates. He grew in influence and popu- 
larity. 

A sad incident will illustrate his influence in the General 
Assembly after a service of some years. His wife, to 
whom he was tenderly attached, was an invalid, and accom- 
panied him to Raleigh during a session of the Assembly. 
It was during the session, in the early fifties, when 
the subject of making an appropriation to establish 
an asylum for the insane was under consideration. 
It met with much opposition. It was urged by 
a philanthropist — a Miss Dix, of New York, a 
sister of General Dix, Senator from New York in the Sen- 
ate of the United States — who, it was said, had been her- 
self a victim of insanity. Miss Dix had urged the matter 
uiion tlie Legislature with the zeal of a Christian and a 
philanthropist, and the blessed woman was giving it up 
in despair. 

She had nursed Mrs. Dobbin in her extreme illness. 
She had enlisted her sympathies in the cause of the "un- 
fortunate ste])-sons of nature" bereft of reason. She had 
induced the dying wife to use her influence with her dis- 
tinguished husband in promoting the bill for the insane. 
Mrs. Dobbin grew worse, and as her eyes turned for the 
last time to him whom she loved most on earth, her dying 
words were a supplication that he would give his support 
to the bill for the comfort of the insane. 

She passed away, and good angels bore her to the man- 
sions of the blessed. He consigned her, "dust to dust,'' 
mourned her in his sad bereavement, and after some days, 
bowed with grief over his loss, took his seat in the Hall 
of the Assembly. After some time, he rose in his seat, 
and with the sad scenes of his domestic bereavement 
swelling his heart and choking his utterance, he called 
up the bill to establish an asylum for the insane. He 
addressed the Assembly in a lengthened speech, full of 
feeling and reminiscence that melted the audience to 
tears, and the bill was passed, we think, unanimously, 
and now that institution for the comfort of the "unfor- 



JAMES C. DOBBIN. 299 

tunate step-sons of nature," as tliej were once called by 
a distin^iislied statesman, is cherished in North Caro* 
lina as the blessed fruit of the dying prayer of a sainted 
woinan. 

James Dobbin afterwards rose to higher distinction. 
He acquired a national reputation, became a leader in 
the councils of the Democratic i^arty, and during the ad- 
ministration of President Pierce, was his efficient and pop- 
ular Secretary of the ISTavy. He was appointed to that 
important position in the Cabinet of President Pierce 
without his personal acquaintance and without solicita- 
tion. It was a merited honor. 

In the Democratic jSTational Convention that nominated 
Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, for the Presidency, 
it was the opportune and emphatic speech of Mr. Dobbin 
that first put him in nomination and secured his selection 
to the highest post of honor among men. 

As Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Dobbin rendered signal 
service to the country. Under his administration the 
Naval Academy at Annapolis, then in its infancy, was 
fostered until it reached a high state of efficiency. He 
introduced into the navy the "retired list," retiring on 
good pay the oldest officers, and giving young and active 
officers merited promotion, and thus added to the efficiency 
of the naval service. He also had built those splendid 
naval vessels, the Merrimac, Niagara, and four others, the 
finest vessels then in the world. Under his administra- 
tion, also, shells were introduced into the armament of 
naval vessels. Altoo;ether, the navy and the naval service 
made more '•■'rogress under this North Carolinian than 
under the administration of any other Secretary in the 
history of the country. 

Mr. Dobbin died early, in the meridian of his intel- 
lex3tual powers, with the love and admiration of his coun- 
trymen, and with a glorious future prospect. North Caro- 
lina mourned him as a lovina; son who had brought honor 
to her, and when the roll of honor is called of her great 
sons departed, the name of James C. Dobbin will always 
be recalled with love and admiration. 



3<^o grandfather's talks. 

THE NEW CENTURY. 

Behold hini when passed by • ''^' 

iJlfr W ^^ f ""^ ''"t his broad pinions 
fc>\v ifter than the winds ! 

— Yoiiru/. 

Pith H^r ""''''^' ^^"^^^ ~"«»d f™™ -il, V m ae'Z 

purpose of God Mon .//i;^ ""^^ ^^ V'^^; i« flie great 
rv/. . ^® ^^® ^.2:ent and colaborer with 

piogiess Taking our own Albemarle country as an Xv 

-or e for ' v ZZ "T"'^'""^^''^' ^ P^S'^^^ none Iho 

>»^^i»e loi navmg been slow anrl afe^nA^r n *. • 

"tter respects we" m„st lam „t X oo^?i!,;t rf l,e"l '°"' 
mng and eloso of the ceniur,. iZa i „ ,1 ' "^"'l 

li ',?J' r';,'"'' *^'^ i"'»n'«'-''ted academies" ere etlb 
I.-^licd .n J.denton, then the metropolitan town of ",e m 
.-"•lo conntry, and other towns h'ad flonrishtn; ae d;m t" 



SEP 2 9 WW 



THE NEW CENTURY. 3OI 

of high character. More interest was felt and shown in 
the great work, and consequently there was a better and 
more controlling element of public sentiment in the earlier 
than in the later period of the century. In the early 
period, the Albemarle was the controlling section of the 
State. It led in public spirit, in State enterprise an<l 
policy, in influence in the jmblic councils and in the men 
of public prominence and position which it furnished to 
the State and general government. It gave a Supreme 
Court Judge to Washington's administration. It fur- 
nished Judges and Governors and Speakers of the Legis- 
lature to the State Government. The latter period of tha 
century saw the sceptre of Judah depart from tlie Albe- 
marle country. Well armed with the prestige of our sire^, 
we have suffered their mantle to fall on other shoulders. 
Albemarle shaped the policy of the State in the struggle 
foir iiule])endenc(\ The reveille drums of the revolu- 
tion were sounded within her borders, and the voices of her 
sons were potent in the field and council hall. All this 
is now changed, and it is incumbent upon those now com- 
ing to the front in this beginning of our new century, 
to see to it that the Albemarle country, by a general system 
of education, by enlightened culture, by improved agricul- 
ture, by selecting for political and official position the 
liest, most reliable and ablest meu, shall recover her right- 
ful place. 
















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